


Love Life

by mumbled_talks



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Crossdressing, Fluff, M/M, Non-Consensual, Non-Consensual Touching, Stripper Akihito
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:03:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 63,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3218375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumbled_talks/pseuds/mumbled_talks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's a 5 year old girl who loses her mom and dad and has to live with her uncle.<br/>He's a 35 year old man who has both legal and illegal business.<br/>He's a 23 year old guy who works as a kindergarten teacher.<br/>While the 5 year old starts idolizing the 23 year old teacher, the 35 year old man starts adoring him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun peeks through the window, indicating the still sleeping princess to wake up. A head pops out from the piles of blanket, still searching for the source of light that has been budging her little peaceful sleep. The sun enlightens her already gloomy room, revealing the light brown carpet that covered the whole floor and the bright purple wallpaper that graces the walls around her. She slowly lifts her head up, only to see the photograph of her mom smiling to her, with that usual chastity smile of her. The photograph itself is latched upon the roof of her bed, which is a princess-style bed in this case. The strong pillars that are located on all four corners of her bed stands strong to never let the photograph down, to never let the girl see that smiling face falling down onto the cold carpet.

 The girl sports herself a weak smile before rubbing her two sleepy eyes. Even though it's still another dreamless sleep, she can't really help but wish to dream about her mother instead of receiving those blank spaces in her mind. She wishes her dream to be somewhere dreamy, somewhere where the flowers bloom beautifully and the butterflies and the bees fly freely across the green grassy field. And on top of that, what she really wishes for is to meet her mother. Her mother who has the most silky hair, the most charming smile, the most cheeky attitude, and the most beautiful mom she has ever wanted to have. But she knows it is silly for her to act all that childish in her age. She's going to be 5 soon, and mother in heavens doesn't like her going all whiny and clingy to get what she wants.

 Clearing all her fuzzy thoughts, she slowly steps on the soft plush carpeted floor that immediately brushes the sensitive skin under her pink little toes. She cringes a little when the cold breeze hits in, but she stays strong and continues to walk, not forgetting on grabbing the eye-catching purple teddy bear, which she loves to hold everytime she feels anxious, or everytime she feels lonely, or everytime she feels it's great to hold it.

 With great effort she reaches for the doorknob which is so high for her reach. After all she's not a tall girl for her age. She's below the average, she knows, but she doesn't mind so does her uncle.

 "Hana?"

 That familiar voice reaches her ears the moment she opens the large door that's leading towards her bedroom earlier. As she stands behind it for protection, she peeks at the older man who is sitting on the couch in his tuxedo, sipping his coffee as he casually reads the morning newspaper like what old men do in the morning instead of stretching.

 Two set of golden eyes immediately stares at her intently as they observes the little girl tries so hard to stride towards him. Two small hands hold the ridiculously-looking teddy bear in her hold just above her chest. The average look for a 5 year old girl in the morning, he thought.

 "Morning, Uncle Asami.", the little girl greets politely as she takes the seat right in front of him, hands never letting go of the doll as she takes her toast on the table. The old man always cooks for her breakfast before she even wakes up, that's what she likes about him. She can eat when she feels hungry, her uncle really knows what's best for her.

 Asami nods before returning his full attention towards the headline news of the day, legs crossing and hands clenching the handle of the mug tightly, like a king would do to his diamond cane on his throne. The girl has observed the man for some quiet time now, and she can't really deny the fact that her uncle really does look like a king. His handsome yet aggressive features, his arrogant attitude, and the way he never changes his decision after he speaks out about it makes him a bit relatable to the kings she find in her story books, which her mom always read for her before she retires for the night.

 She bites the toast hungrily before engulfing it in exactly 25 chews. Her mother always told her to chew more than that, but her jaws get tired immediately from doing more than 25 chews for a bite. So she just skips it. After all she has a strong belly, chewing a little less than usual wouldn't be bad for her, right?

 "Hana,", the old man sighs, ", you have to chew more. Or else you will get a stomachache. Your mother always tells me that."

 The little girl pouts, eyes glaring in the way the prey would do to it's predators. Instead of listening to the kind advice, she continues on eating the toast, not even caring one bit to count how many chews she has done. Ending the rather hasty breakfast is a glass of warm milk, which she prefers to be full-creamed because the chocolate would get her sick in the morning.

 Little Hana jumps onto her feet and runs little steps towards the room, silently telling her old man that she wants to end her breakfast session-slash-talking session with him. Asami just sighs. Like mother like daughter the saying goes. He really feels kind of related to that.

* * *

 

 "Hana, uncle Suoh will pick you up at one, alright?", Asami speaks, giving a light rub on the girl's head and strokes the silky hair softly. She nods diligently, her eyes half-opened and her mouth shut tightly in a grim line.

 As she holds her purple bear close, she slides her small body off the limousine and waits for Suoh to close the door for her. Suoh looks at her for a brief moment before giving her a curt nod. She understands it. That is how Suoh says 'goodbye' or 'have a nice day'. He's a man without words, and Hana likes him for it. She likes his big body, as sometimes when Asami isn't home and he's in charge of taking care of her, he would let the girl rides his back and does the rodeo. She also likes seeing his back, it's like staring at that giant green hero who has that rage expression on his face in the movie she watched yesterday when she's alone. But she doesn't like seeing it now, because Suoh turns his back to go away, it is proved enough when he climbs back into the driver's seat and pulls the long black car into another journey of the day. Hana just sighs as she turns her head around as well, towards the white building with tulips gracing all around the front gate. It is a kindergarten, and it is meant for her.

 In all honesty, she hates going to a public school. Especially kindergartens or daycares. They are usually full of noisy and awful kids who don't know any manners at all. The kids would usually become loud, play hard, cry, and the other things that could make the girl's ears ring so hard she almost got dizzy last time. But she chooses not to care about those minor things. She's going to be 5 soon, and she knows that she needs to increase up her maturity soon so that she can be equalized with her uncles.

 As she walks along the path towards the giant front door, a ball suddenly hits her right on the head, giving her enough chills and goosebumps down her spine. The spot where the ball hit her has somehow calmed down, but the impact is still ringing through all parts of her body. Tears start to swell on her beloved eyes but she holds it in. Big girls don't cry as the saying goes. Instead, she bites her lower lip and clenches her fist.

 She thinks the boy would come up to her, and says sorry.

 But she's wrong.

  _I knew it, I hate this place._

 "Hahahaha! I hit the ghost girl!", the boy's voice is loud enough to be heard from miles away. The mockery in that tone he uses makes the other kids around him laugh in harmony, some of them even dare to point there fingers at the little girl, who is silently shaking in anger.

 When she's about to raise her hands and catch the impolite boy, a hand suddenly stops her from doing so, grabbing her tiny wrist easily in it's wider sweaty palm and immobile an attempt on moving that she is about to make.

 Hana turns her head in a flash, one drop of tears has finally fallen from her eyes. Eyebrows furrow deep, causing the crease between it shows more and more wrinkles. Her rounded eyes turn sharper than before, as she grits her teeth to hold in a shout, or a yell that has the possibility of coming out of her pretty little mouth. What meets her view is the sight of a blond man, who is of course taller than her, wearing an apron with a tulip attached on the middle. _He looks like the other teachers in this school_ , she mused, judging by the way he looks.

 "Hana - chan,", the blond tries speaking softly towards the shivering girl, ", I think there is no need for violent. We can settle these things easy and slowly alright. No harm.", he turns his attention towards the boy that threw the ball earlier, who has shrinken himself deep with his friends surrounding him, silently trying to slip away, "Yami - kun? I hope you would come with me inside."

 The boy hesitatates a little but when he sees the defiance and challenge in Hana's eyes, he agrees almost immediately, taking the blond's offered hand to grasp it in his smaller palm.

 The blond guy then holds both the kids hands and leads them towards the empty classroom, since the class has yet to start and the other children are still playing outside.

 The three of them sit on the floor, Hana facing the boy while the blond teacher sits between them. Even though the tension is there, Hana sets herself calm and composed, eyes still half-opened as usual. At least she has learnt to calm her temper. She is so proud of herself.

 The other boy though, who is known as 'Yami - kun', only glares daggers her way, clenching the lower hem of his pants as he keeps on trembling all over his body.

 Seeing this, the blond sighs, "Alright.. Who started this?"

 "It's her!", the boy exclaims, "She's the one who started it!"

 "Is that right, Hana - chan?", the blond asks concerningly, back lowers down so he could match his eye level with hers.

 Hana simply shakes her head, "I was just walking along the path when suddenly Yami - kun hit me with a ball. But instead of apologizing, he started mocking me with the other children."

 The boy gasps so wide he almost stops breathing. The way she calmly answered and explained the whole event in those simple sentences makes him stunned than ever. His eyes glittering, his face regains the color of pale red as he closes his mouth; admiration starts flashing through his pupils.

 "Hana - chan.. I.. I'm sorry!", the boy immediately apologizes, "It's just that.. You have never played with us before and it seems like you hate us from the beginning. I was just trying to invite you to play with us but.. I don't think it will hurt you. I'm sorry."

 The blond smiles gently while changing his attention back towards the stunned girl, who is staring at the boy that suddenly apologized to her, "Well, how is it, Hana - chan? Will you forgive Yami - kun?"

 The black-haired girl simply nods and stands up. She reaches for the things she brought to school and leaves the classroom, leaving the two guys alone.

 The boy looks up at his teacher, who is still looking at the door direction as if the girl is still there. He hesitantly asks, "Umm.. Aki - sensei.. Why is she like that?"

 That brings him back towards the other boy who's still sitting next to him. Smiling, he answers, "I don't know about it either. I'm also new here. But I'm sure we will get to know Hana - chan better, sooner or later. And you and the others would get to play with her! Are you excited?", he ruffles the boy's hair and the kid laughs.

 Both guys enjoy their time before the other teachers start pouring out of the staffs room and begin their basic lessons with the kids. 

* * *

Kids start running out of the building when the teachers have told them that the school is over. Some of them immediately go to the playground to play some more as well as to wait for their parents to take them, and some just go home with their already waiting parents in the lobby. Hana doesn't do both. She just chooses to sit in the lobby, sitting on the comfortable couch and wait for that familiar black limousine to come and pick her up. She can't just wait to meet Suoh again, that big guy just somehow colors her day with his stern look.

 While waiting, she takes out one of her story books out of her pink backpack, holding his purple teddy close as if she is going to read him stories. The hard cover of the book can actually tell people what's in the whole story. It's an old story after all. Beauty and The Beast. Hana doesn't know why but she likes reading it. Everytime people asks why, she would just go by saying 'because the princess is pretty' or 'the beast is so cool'. Either way she doesn't care, she just likes the way the story flows, the way the prince falls for her on the first sight but stubbornly denies the fact, and the way the girl saves the beast when he's about to die. The curse is broken by true love, the story will always ended by that. And the last of it, will be 'and they lived happily ever after'.

 Hana doesn't know about true love. What is true love, anyway? True means correct. It never meant to be wrong, the opposite of false. It will always mean right. And love. Love is a feeling, an emotion that humans feel. So, true love means a correct emotion? Or the feeling that always means right? Both way she couldn't understand.

 She always reads it in fairy tales, that the prince and the princess would fall for each other within a second thought. It makes her think, _is it that easy to fall in love?_

 Her thoughts are completely ruined when a hand suddenly pats her on the shoulder, and she jumps in surprise as she whips her head towards the offender. The big goofy smile that is plastered under the nose that belongs to a blond teacher she just noticed today meets her eyes, and she is not amused. But instead of turning her head away, she decides to let him tells her what he wants, "Hana - chan? Let's go play outside!", he says enthusiastically, while grinning and closing his eyes with furrowed eyebrows, indicating that he is indeed very excited at the thought of having Hana as a game partner outside.

 Hana shook her head at the word 'outside'. Nope, anything but that, "No.. Aki - sensei, I'd rather wait inside."

 "But we can play anything! Even hide and seek!", he exclaims excitedly.

_Hide and seek?_ She thinks about it a little, jutting out her lips as she does so.

 The sight of a black limousine being parked just outside the front gate cuts off her thoughts. Her eyes lit up immediately, and her jutting lips turn into a wide smile upon seeing the giant blond that comes out of the car just to take her home. Her favorite blond of all time.

 Seeing her changed-of-expression, the blond teacher follows her eye direction, and the sight that meets him almost make him choke his own breath. A big, no, massive man in a three-piece-suit and a pair of glasses walks out a black limousine car with his body straight and stern face. _He looks like a freaking yakuza!_ He shouts internally. _And the girl doesn't even scared of him one bit. She is HAPPY that he has come._

 Hana packs all her stuffs, then rushes towards the front gate to greet her caretaker. The teacher unconsciously follows her along all the way to the front entrance and sees the strange interaction between the two. The little girl reaches for the big guy's hand and the big guy immediately pulls her away from the crowd. But to the teacher, it feels like he's shielding her from any kind of disturbance from around her. _I don't know, I think he's as tall as the wall of China_ , the blond teacher sighs.

 When the girl and her caretaker are finally tucked inside their car and the car has finally pulled into another journey of the day, the teacher watches the car as it gradually vanishes into a little dot at the end of the horizon. The teacher then turns his head and walks towards the playground.

 "Aki - sensei, she's not coming with us?", Yami - kun asks, there's a slight sadness in his two brown pupils.

 The teacher looks at him, then shakes his head slowly, "No, Yami - kun. But I promise she will.", then his lips breaks into a wide smile as he pulls the boy towards the other children, intending on playing 'hide and seek' that has been delayed since minutes ago. 

* * *

"He is annoying.", Hana mutters out first thing when they got inside the limo. She reflexively tucks her seatbelt and leans against her seat, seeking comfort. She sits beside the driver's seat, so that she can talk with Suoh with nothing separating them. That black-tinted window for example. Although if Asami is there, he won't let the girl take that seat. So it's her golden chance since uncle Asami is still working.

 "Who?", Suoh asks simply, silently quirking an eyebrow at the sudden foul mood the girl is emitting.

 "You didn't see him earlier... I think,", she runs her golden irises upwards as if thinking, ", it's my teacher. Everyone calls him 'Aki - sensei', so I don't really know his real name. He's new.... I think."

 Suoh grows suspicious. "Why do you say that he's annoying?"

 "He keeps on bugging me.", Hana pouts, "Everytime I want to be alone, he will always come to me and asks me to play. Even though I have already told him that I don't want to, he is still eager to play with me. Isn't that annoying?"

 The blond guard just stays silent, and nods his head slowly. The kind of nod that Hana doesn't understand. Does he agree or disagree with me? That kind of ambiguous nod that sometimes irritates the girl as well, because it seems like mocking her and reminding her that she does not know what is the guard thinking at all.

 Then, there's this deafening silence between them, which Hana is okay with. She's not a really talkative girl and if there's a chance of silent, she will gladly take it. But, there's still something that's bugging her mind, and she can't hold it in herself to not speak it out.

 "Suoh - san, do you know how to play 'hide and seek'?" 

* * *

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unedited.

Dim lights enlighten the club as night comes fast. The sound of music bangs the shell of everyone's ears, making them gone blind and deaf at the same time. People on the dance floor dance mindlessly, it is as if they are possessed, but they are not. Sticking their bodies together, they match their body movements to the rythym of the music, syncing the beat and the choreography. Once you are on the dance floor, you would look like as if you forget just who you are. People would dance with anybody, chat and get drunk and talk to anybody they find comforting and interesting. And when they retire for the night and the morning comes, they would immediately forget just who they chat to, who they drink to, and who they talk to. It sounds ironic, really. But that has been an ultimate rule since long ago, and there isn't anybody who's conscious enough to break it.

 A blond man in a white suit watches the progress of his club, making sure the drinks and the music are constantly delivered to every customers, so that they won't regret ever coming there. His pale blue eyes watch intently through a tinted glass that separates him from the crowd. Sipping his drink, he puts the tumbler back onto the low table at his office and walks out.

 The blond watches his watch endlessly. Sometimes twice a minute. He is either eager of something that's going to happen, or someone who's going to come. Whether it is, he just brushes off his thoughts and strides confidently towards the staff room, where he finds himself stepping closer and closer towards that one room where the entertainment of tonight's even lays.

 It is a special room, or you should call it a backstage in this case. A backstage full of entertainer, it is only filled with dancers though. The dancers themselves only specialize in pole and strip dancing. Tonight's event is sure going to be hotter than the others, because the main entertainer for tonight is going to be strippers. Striptease for everyone.

 Recalling the person that said he would come, the blond rushes to that room and he opens the door wide, revealing several men and women preparing themselves, mostly with the wig and make-up. The smell of sweet-scented perfume comes registering within his smelling sense. He smiles genuinely towards his dancers as he strides inside, going into that private room where the most talented dancers go to.

 As the door closes behind him, the dancers at the regular changing room start to whisper. It is obviously rare for the owner to actually come to check on them, especially to that special room where his favorite dancer changes.

 Men and women start to get excited at the thought of some star guests that are going to come and watch them at tonight's event. The owner would want to serve the guest best, so maybe this 'guest' is super special.

 Not aware of the situation, a beautiful blond comes out from one of the changing cubes, where he comes out wearing a perfect set of tight lingerie and a pair of garter around his hips. Even though it is dim, the pure white skin the blond has is steer clear. It is visually smooth, untainted, and clean-shaved. As the others are still gossiping and whispering and discussing about who might be the guest, the blond just ignores them and goes to the bench that is right in front of his locker. He takes the pair of tight high stockings and wears it around his small ankles, pulling it slowly yet surely so the smooth fabric won't break.

 He tucks it with the clip from the garters and stands. When he looks at himself at the mirror, he immediately takes a jacket right beside him, and wears it around his lithe body protectively. Shades of weak pink color his cheekbones, defeating the sweet pink of the blush he wore earlier on his two plump cheeks. Quickly, he grabs his golden-colored wig and tucks it on his head, swiping out the golden locks that defiantly attacks his beautiful face. As he puts pins here and there, the long golden wig gradually fits his small crown. The long strands of hair flows around his small shoulders, down to his back, and his waist. It is waist-length. In one swift motion, he gathers the hair that messily flows everywhere and ties it into a ponytail.

 Not finished with his look yet, he goes to his personal locker and grabs a loose, transparent white shirt and wears it to cover the lingerie, it turns out to be oversized for him and the lower hem ends up to be around his tights.

 Just as he is about to wear his black tie, he can see a fine looking brunette walking towards him through the corner of his eyes. He smiles in relief as he recognizes who the person is.

 "Akichin!", she calls him aloud, whilst waving her hand in the air to greet him.

 "Kanata - san.", the blond's smile widens, and there are two dimples appear at the corner of his mouth, "I heard the owner has finally agreed to put you in the main show, congratulations!"

 "You don't have to flutter me like that, Aki..", she speaks cheerfully as she observes him from head to toe, "..and your dress-up skill has been improved I see. Look at how beautiful you look! Even though you are a man.."

 The blond frowns a little bit. The crease between his eyebrows deepens as he responds, "It's not like I want to dress myself up. But this job is kind of forcing me to. Can't help it."

 There is an empty silence after that. Seeing the hurtful look on her friend's face, she gets a little bit worried. Initiatively, she puts a hand on his arm to comfort him while speaking, "Aki.. If you don't like this kind of job, why do you choose it? And you also work at day as well. Don’t you feel tired?"

 "I...", the blond's voice trails-off, "I don't have any choice.. You know.. It's too complicated.."

 The brunette girl just sighs, "Just.. Don't overwork yourself, Aki. I've been sick-worried about you since I know you decide to work here."

 Their conversation is easily cut-off by the sudden clap of hand from somewhere not far away from their position. The two persons whip their heads towards the source only to see the club owner, Sudou Shuu, stands in the middle of the crowd with his professional smile, smiling towards his dancers.

 As the crowd gathers around him, his voice echoes amongst them, "We have a special guest tonight. I hope all of you won't disappoint him with your performance, especially you, beginners."

 The crowd cheers in delight upon hearing the news. There is indeed a VIP guest tonight and that means, if they please the guest, they would get a rise. Which means good news.

 When the dancers start practicing their movements a little bit, the rookies start gathering at the door that leads towards the stage. They are the first to show their performance, including the blond that has been fidget since he heard the news from his owner.

 Truth be told, this may be his first time stripping his clothes in front of the audiences. And his first time has to be served for a VIP guest how nice is that?

 He slowly inhales and exhales his frustration. The beating of his heart start to get out of control, and he couldn't do his best if he's nervous like this. _Calm down Aki.. Calm down.._

 "Takaba Akihito.", the familiar voice that calls him surprised the hell out of him. As he turns his head around, the face of his club owner is all he could see.

 "I expect something big from you. Good luck for tonight's performance.", is all that he said to him before walking out from the changing room.

* * *

 

 "Asami - sama, this way.", Suoh conducts the group of men towards their reserved seat. The crowds have already been gathered before they came that's why it is a little bit narrowed for them to get to the VIP area.

 Using his big built body, Suoh shields his boss from the crowd while making way for him. Asami calmly walks with his lead towards the VIP room where no one is around.

 It is a special room in the club where you can easily watch the whole performance on stage without being disturbed. Of course the price of the room itself is as fantastic as the facility it provides.

 Asami takes a seat right behind the dark-tinted glass, where his vision is immediately dead-set on the stage. The stage itself is decorated with a pole, which is weird and rare, because the show for the night is usually filled with a singer. _The difference makes the whole invitation more interesting_ , Asami thought.

"Asami - sama,", a soft voice calls him from the door.

 Asami reflexively turns his head towards the door and the face of the club manager immediately meets his eyes. Sudou smiles sweetly before sliding his slim body in, and strides sternly towards his boss.

 "I really feel honored for you to spare your time to visit this club. I hope you enjoy our show for the night."

 “I see our business here is going alright. Is there any complaints from the customers?”

 “No, sir. Actually, they enjoy our services. Especially the new branded whiskey Sion has distributed to us. Everyone likes it.”

 Asami nods at him once and turns his attention back towards the highlighted stage below them.

 Just then, the sudden buzz from the older man’s pocket jolts the two out of the stillness in the room. Swiftly, Asami fishes out the ringing and vibrating device out of his pants pocket and checks the caller ID. He lets out a sigh before receiving the call and greets the caller with “Why are you still awake?”

 “I haven’t watched the DVD Suoh – san gave me earlier. I want to finish it.”, said the other person at the other line, who turns out to be a little girl’s voice.

 “Hana..”, Asami groans, “You still have school tomorrow, remember? And I don’t want to wake up any heavy-sleeper first thing in the morning. You’re going to tire yourself if you don’t sleep anytime soon.”

 The little girl pouts, “If you want to blame anyone, blame Suoh – san. He is the one who gave me these good DVDs. Besides,”, a yawn is heard, “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.”

 “And why is that?”, the old man’s voice grows sharper when he received the surprising news coming out of his niece’s sleepy mouth.

 “I hate that school, uncle. I hate everything about it.”, Hana answers lazily, “Especially this one teacher that keeps bothering me at school. I hate him.”

 “A teacher?”, Asami asks.

 “Yes.. he is so annoying. He keeps asking me to play with him and the other kids. Doesn’t he  know that I hate spending my time with them? I’d rather locked myself in my room than playing with those annoying kids.”

 Asami feels like face-palming himself. With another heavy sigh coming out of his mouth, he answers carefully, as to not harm any of the girl’s sensitive feelings, “Look, Hana. You have to love your environment once in a while. You can’t do things alone that’s why I want you to socialize with the other kids.”

 “Uncle..”, the girl whines, “I hate talking to people. Except you, Uncle Suoh, Uncle Kei, and the other uncles that usually accompany me when there’s no Suoh – san around.”

 The golden-eyed man looks confuse for a minute as he slowly brings his fingers to his scalp to lightly message it. He can handle so many yakuzas and traitors without any headache but handling a little girl is seriously a whole different kind of level. You have to think about the way to make them obey you without harming them. That’s what makes it more problematic in Asami’s side. _She_ _’_ _s just like her mother. Troublesome ladies.._ Asami curses silently.

 “Uncle Asami..”, the soft voice calls him again through the phone line, bringing the older man back to reality from his thoughts, “What time will you come home? Can I just wait for you?”

 “No you cannot, Hana. I will be back late. You have to sleep. Now.”, Asami’s voice sounds more like an order to the girl’s ears.

 Pouting, Hana answers, “Alright. I will sleep. But tell Suoh – san that I’m still borrowing these DVDs from him. I’m going to watch tomorrow.”, she yawns once again, before continuing, “Good nite, uncle.”

 The call is cut off by the girl herself, which probably goes to her bedroom right away. Asami has to admit, despite her stubbornness, he can’t really deny the respect she shows towards him in those pitch-black rounded eyes. They often argue about several domestic things, but in the end, she will always obey what he says, though maybe some yells and shouts are required.

 Just as he slips his phone back into its confinement, the soft beat of the music that he assumes is going to accompany the audiences all night long tonight comes silently on the background. The empty stage he sees earlier seems to glow brighter than before, meaning that the show is about to start.

 He picks up a tumbler that is already prepared just for him at the rounded table beside him, and indicates for the club manager to fill in some scotch for him. As good as a little puppy he is, Sudou immediately goes to the container filled with the man’s favorites and pours a bottle of scotch to that tumbler that is held high by his boss.

 Looking at the stage, a group of dancers wearing nothing but tight lingerie around their slim figures enter the stage. By then, the volume of the music gradually grows louder and louder within seconds. The dancers themselves are either men and women, men who wear women’s clothes to be exact. Even with those heavy make-ups they put on them, Asami can still see it. After all, he has this excellent eyesight that the greatest liar can’t lie to him.

 The dancers start opening their clothes, so slowly, so sensually. The audiences cheer for such performance, and less than ten minutes, piles of money have already been thrown onto the stage, showering the dancers with what they use to buy food, to keep on living. After all they are here to entertain, and to entertain means to get money.

 Thinking about such things, Asami can only sighs. These dancers probably don’t want to do this. One fourth of them perhaps is the real dancers but the rest? They are just low people that doesn’t know any better way to gain money except for this. At least it is better than scrapping the last remaining food at the trash bins along the alleyway between buildings.

 That’s why Asami has never underestimated this kind of people. Even though he hates their motivation to do this, he honestly loves the spirits they have in them. They don’t give their life up despite the harsh, cold life they have received. They keep striving to live, the survival instinct is as strong as any wild, untamed beast.

 As the night keeps on flowing, the set of songs also change. If the first one is this beat kind of music, then the next one grows even slower, more mellow, and more sensual than the first. Asami assumes that the professional dancers are probably kept until the end so that the audiences wouldn’t leave. A simple trick for a great business.

 After the first group finishes their dances, they silently walk back towards the backstage. Without waiting for any further command, the next group emerges from the darkness of the room, replacing their friends that have worked hard for their first performance for the night.

 As the song changes to that old, familiar song _You_ _Can Leave Your Hat On_ , the stage is fully emptied.

 The next group comes in and is immediately welcomed by the loud cheer the audiences give them. The guy that stands at the front walks confidently at the stage, swaying his hips right and left, making any men turn all tipsy from the tempting gestures this one blond gives them. Curious, Asami shifts forward so that he is sitting right at the edge of his seat, strangely wanting to see the dancer that seems to succeed on driving the audiences wild.

 Unfortunately, Asami can’t really see his face. The black bow hat he wears is covering three forth of his face.

 As Asami is still expecting to see his face, the _‘_ _you can leave your hat on_ _’_ line comes out from the speaker, blasting everyone’s ears with the legendary voice of Joe Cocker. As if the line is a magic spell, all the dancers on stage throw their hats onto the air, the hats themselves fall ungraciously somewhere not too far from the stage. But who cares about the hats? In fact, the dancers’ faces are all clear now.

 The dancer that Asami is currently observing unties his long golden hair from the ponytail and lets it fall freely around his lithe body. As the golden locks swings around his shoulders, the dancer tilts his head upwards, as if feeling the sensation of dancing sensually through the night.

 And when the dancer opens his two beautiful eyelids, there, Asami sees it.

 The most enticing hazel eyes he has ever seen in his life. 

* * *

 

 “Great job everyone!”

 The dancers cheer at the backstage, celebrating their success that indeed, no one made a mistake on the stage. It is a great performance, both for the professionals and the rookies. Everyone enjoys their stripteases, which is good. The raise is just in front of their doorstep.

 “Kanata – san!”, Akihito calls his brunette friend that just came out from the stage, “, you really did great. Good job!”

 “I’m nervous..”, she sighs, “That’s my first time being on the main event. My longest striptease..”

 “But you didn’t fail. Once again, congratulations.”, the blond smiles brightly at her, and she smiles back. Really, just seeing the radiant smile at his face makes her exhaustion fades away instantly.

 As the two of them keeps on talking about the night’s success, a tall dancer suddenly approaches them, “Kanata – san, some guests have request you to accompany them in one of the booths.”

 “Really?!”

 The dancer nods and gives her some information about the client. She nods excitedly upon listening to it, like a child would do to the fairy tales her mother tells her before going to bed. When the dancer finally leaves her, the brunette walks back to Akihito. From afar, she looks just like a puppy, wiggling her tail happily.

 “Why are you so happy being requested by someone? Doesn’t that mean you have to entertain them more with your striptease?”, the blond asks, tilting his head as he did so.

 “Yup, and that’s what makes me excited!”, Kanata speaks, “After all, I love dancing. I’d love to specialize in every dances, that’s why if I have the chance to practice a dance, I would gladly take it.”

 Akihito just lets out a sigh but also stretches a sneaky smile below his nose, “Come on, let me just accompany you going to the booth.”, he says, while taking his black jacket to cover his still naked body.

 

 Both dancers talk about so many random things along the corridor towards the booth. Kanata tells Akihito a lot of things, like how she became a dancer, where is she from, and so much more. Even though they just met yesterday when Akihito just assigned himself to work as a stripper, they have become good friends like there’s nothing that can separate them. But to Kanata, there’s still something that Akihito hides from her. Something like why he chooses to work here even though he hates it, even though he has already had a job as a teacher at the local kindergarten. The blond doesn’t want to open up to her, and that’s what she hates the most about him.

 “Well.. I must go now. You’re going home, right?”, the girl asks him one more time, as her hand has already landed on the door handle.

 “Yup. I have to go to the kindergarten early for preparations. I have already talked to the manager about me going home earlier and I’m so glad he doesn’t mind about it.”

 “That’s good to hear. Then..”, she lets her voice trails off as her eyes roll towards the door. She sneaks one last cheeky smile before going in.

 Akihito lets out a relief sigh as the figure of his friend has gone inside the booth. At least she does what she likes, that’s what matters.

 In fact, Akihito is a little bit jealous of her. She knows what she wants to do, what she loves, and she does it. While him? He’s just stuck in a dark corner where he can’t do anything but just sit there, doing what people told him to do. Just like a ragged doll.

 The blond sighs one more time and turns his heels to go back to the change room so he could change and retire for the night. But as he turns his body around and begins to walk hastily, he bumps onto something… _or someone?_

 He reflexively clutches onto the clothes that someone wears as to not let himself fall. “S-Sorry!”, he mutters one more time before tilting his head to meet his offender.

 Hazel eyes meet Golden.

 And he is immediately mesmerized. 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay an update!
> 
> i honestly am having so much trouble writing this chapter. because the situation is so new to me i dont even have the right words to describe thisO_O i just hope u guys would enjoy the story, and looking forward to the next chapter!  
> tell me if this sucks, im always welcomed to critics!
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyy how's it going? i finally update the next chapter i promised, aaand its not rushed! meaning i put a lot of effort in this one!  
> i appreciate all the reviews u guys commented, im so touched:3  
> i have edited some minor typing mistakes but if u guys find any, just point it out.  
> here, begin the new chap!

_"Hana - chan,", a woman spoke out, "It's a nice day to go out. Let's go buy an ice cream, shall we?" ___

_Her voice was so clear in the girl's ears. It was soft like silk, and soothed her more than any lullaby she often heard everytime she goes to bed. It drew some kind of magical melody, the kind of melody that could calm you down, that could fly you high on the sky, and swim you deep in the calmest ocean. Hana liked her voice. It was her favorite tune of all the time. And she had never stopped singing to her, singing her favorite kid's song, singing everything she wanted to hear._

_And the woman also loved Hana down to every part of her. She cherished the little girl and spoiled her like a little baby, but sometimes, she grew strict as well. Sometimes Hana would be cheerful, sometimes she would be whiny, or maybe a crybaby. But no matter what kind of Hana she was, the girl was still the woman's prideful daughter._

_It was a really nice day to take a walk, to go outside, to interact with other people._

_But the little girl sadly didn't really have the chance to eat her chocolate ice cream._

_Hana could not really recall what happened, because it happened so fast her little fingers couldn't grasp. Her little, 3-year olds body was swung here and there, being picked up by some random strangers in suits, being thrown, tied, blindfolded. She also heard several unusual noises and unfamiliar people's voices, of course anyone in her house had never introduced her to any of those sounds. But there were some sounds that she recognized. There were obviously people's shouting, yelling, or screaming, and there was one called explosion._

_But Hana knew she didn't panic. She shed a tear sometime, but she held it in. Her mom doesn't like seeing her cries, that was why she tried her best to not show her any. Because she was just a prideful daughter of her._

_And when all of the shoutings were over, the blindfold that covered her rounded brown/golden eyes was opened, showing her whatever that was going to happen. She was tied, hands and ankles, but she could clearly saw what was in front of her._

_What scared her the most was the bruised face of an older woman she knows. She knew her so well she could memorize her in her sleep. The face that she missed having around, the kind of face that cheered her up when she was down and joined her in her happiness. The face that she doesn't like to see crying or being beaten down._

_But now she was faced with that face, all surface being covered by some red liquid that she remembered called blood. Her once beautiful white skin was also covered by the color of purple, but she didn't know why was that. Why is her skin turning color? She asked herself even though she could not really answer it._

_Strangely, the two of them were surrounded by men in suits, as if they were watching them and enjoyed them being tied down like that. The little girl shuddered a bit when he heard a low, man's old voice echoed from behind her, along with the sound of intimidating footsteps that grew louder within seconds. She concluded that the voice's owner was currently walking towards them, but she couldn't really turn her head to see who it was because she didn't really have the energy to do so, which was disappointing for her as well because she was very curious._

_Like making her wish came true, the awaited old man surfaced from her back, showing his full body form as he walked pass her. She felt herself cringe as the man took a glance of her through his wide shoulder, and smirked. The panic finally kicked in and she gradually thrashed around her bounds, trying so hard to let his wrists free._

_Hana didn't know what that man was talking about with her bounded mom because she couldn't really recognize the language they used. But whatever it was, she knew her mom was in danger, from the way the woman shot daggers through her glares towards the old man._

_Minutes later, the old man grabbed something from the inside of his tux, and it was later revealed as something that looked metal (from the way the lights shone upon it) and the color was pure dark. Hana didn't know what was, it was so alien to her pure, innocent rounded eyes. The black thing was pointed against the temple of her mom's and Hana could see her mom lowering down her gaze as if she admitted defeated._

_Hana wanted to call her. She wanted to call her so bad. But her traitorous throat didn't provide her the voice she needed. That was why instead of calling her, she cried for her instead. The tears slid down her chubby cheeks down to her chin like a river. She wanted to stop, because her mom said she doesn't like seeing her cry, but she couldn't. Besides the fact that she couldn't use her hands at the moment, the tears itself didn't waver on falling down._

_And for once, she didn't feel like her mom's prideful daughter anymore._

_Hana kept on opening her mouth, but the desired words she wanted to let out just keep themselves inside her. She wanted to break free, to lift her mom's chin, and be tough in front of the older woman so that she could smile, she could feel proud of her like always._

_But suddenly, suddenly, her mom lifted up her chin. Looking deep into her only daughter's rounded, glassy eyes, she smiled, a single tear fell weakly from her eyes.  
As Hana was about to put on a smile of relief, something big yet dark covered her eyes once again, before the sound of 'explosion' came ringing into her little ears. She grew panic inside, what was that? Is mom okay?_

_Several 'explosion's echoed in that very place as Hana felt herself being lifted up once again, but the hands and the smell felt familiar. She knew she really should feel relief but when she realized that her mom's presence wasn't near her anymore, her cries 'exploded'._

"MOM!" 

"Hana!" 

The familiar voice wakes her up instantly. Two strong hands shake her little body furiously. At that moment, Hana opens her eyes, the tears that have swelled fat inside it start falling down one by one. 

_It is only just a dream._

"Uncle.. Ryu..?", the girl starts rubbing her eyes, "What happened..? Did I oversle-" 

Those two big arms hug her in a tight hold, sealing her altogether with the also big, wide body of her uncle's, "You talked, and cried in your sleep, Hana.", Asami answers, voice as serious as ever. 

Upon hearing those words from her uncle, Hana starts remembering the bitter dreams she has woken up moments ago. But instead of crying, she decides to wipe all her tears, "It's nothing..", she reasons while slowly loosening up the hold the older man has on her, "I should.. Pee-pee..". 

Asami lets go of her and she immediately gets her feet on the floor. As she takes the purple teddy with her, she paddles towards the bathroom, and closes the door behind her. 

Asami takes a glance of her pillow, and truth be told, there are wet patches around her head area. Not too far from there is the photograph of his little sister, who was brutally eliminated by the other low-life yakuzas that seemed to target her poor husband. Though he had wiped them out, it seems the bitter memories and scars have yet to leave the little girl. Asami feels responsible though, because he was late at that time, he couldn't really save the kid's mother. 

And now, as her official foster parent, he doesn't feel like giving her up, both for her sake, and his little sister's. 

* * *

From the corner of his golden eyes, Asami can see it well. There must be really something wrong, and he can only assume that it was nightmare. Hana hasn't look at him in the eye since morning, and that can only meant bad news. She is always the defiant kid, a proud, defiant kid to be exact. Just like her mother, a fine fighter for the feminime gender. But now, she only holds her purple teddy tight in her hold, and stays silent like dead. Her eyes drop into halves, and she leaves her short legs dangle at the edge of the comfortable seats. And observing his two bodyguards at the front, Asami can also feel them worrying about the little girl. Because since she came into Asami Ryuuichi's threshold, she has silently affected them. 

Just as Asami is about to approach her, the car is put into a halt. Realizing that, the girl reflexively grabs her backpack and hurriedly gets off the car, with the help of Suoh who opens the door for her. She doesn't even spare a glance towards her uncle as her feet brings her little body towards the kindergarten's gate. And strangely, Suoh, too, has been ignored. 

As the blond bodyguard gets back into the car and puts his hands on the steer, the car starts another journey once again, now back to work at Sion. 

As Asami begins settling in his paperworks and reports Kirishima has prepared for him last night, the separator glass is gradually pulled down by a push of a button by someone in the car. Realizing that, Asami immediately runs his eyes towards the driver's seats, and stares at his two men's backs. He looks at the rear-view mirror and silently asks why, which is answered by Suoh who returns his gaze, "Asami - sama, we are honestly worried about Hana." 

Upon hearing that, Asami puts down the papers beside him, "And why is that?" 

"She has been strange since this morning.", Kirishima responds, "And it is also unusual for her to not greet Suoh happily like other days." 

"So it does affect you, too.", Asami muses, "Maybe her mother's death really give her so much impact. I thought she would get over it easy." 

The deafening silence engulfs the three gentlemen in the car as no one comments at the statement. It is indeed hard for a child to forget their parents' death, especially since she witnessed her mother's last moment herself. Even though she didn't see it directly, she could still feel her mom's presence gone in that one-shot-at-the-head, and Asami would be lying if he says he doesn't try hard to make the little girl forget about it. 

Kirishima takes a glance at the rearview mirror once again, and bracing himself, he speaks his opinion out, "Asami - sama, I am sorry but.. Would it be better if you hire a nanny?" 

Asami glances at his secretary, as if he hears something wrong from that very suggestion, "What, so that there would be some woman that could take care of Hana?" 

Both Kirishima and Suoh give Asami a hesitant nod before Asami continues, "No. It would be too troublesome having another people in my living space. Besides, Hana is not the kind of girl that can get comfortable with some stranger. Having you accompanying her should be enough, Suoh." 

"But, sir..", Suoh responds, "It's not like I can be with her 24/7, and she must need another female to understand her." 

"I do not expect you to be with her 24/7, Suoh. And if she needs something, she must have tell me about it." 

As if it is a command, not a soul dared to interfere with that statement. 

The rest of the journey remains silent as they drive towards the club. 

As he gets his hands on his work once again, his mind involuntarily flies back to last night's event. 

_It was indeed a satisfying night._

* * *

Never has she thought that being at the kindergarten earlier than usual could be this annoying. She only arrived 5 minutes ago and puts her bag in his locker not too far from where her usual spot, exactly on the floor near the grand window in her classroom. She intends to look cool and ignore everyone as usual, but sadly, no one understood her silent intention. Half of the kids that usually play outside are now playing inside with the new toys the kindergarten provides for them, causing the class to be more chaotic than before. They are mostly girls though. 

The new barbie edition seems to catch their attention so fast they don't even spare the second glance at the playground outside. Hana lets out a frustrating sigh as she contemplates where the other available places are. If most of them are inside, maybe the outside would be less crowded? She thinks before working on standing up on her short two feet and walks casually towards the back exit. 

Truth be told, there is rarely anyone in her sight. The weather is kind of windy so it should be perfect for a place to sit and read another fairy tales Asami gave her. So looking back and forth for a nice place, her two rounded eyes land on a certain place that looks comfy, under an old apple tree which no one comes close. 

With swift steps she carefully walks there. Sensing that no one is around, she happily sits and starts opening her picture book. The title says it all, Snow White. 

It is always her favorite. The princess is beautiful. Her skin is as white as snow, her lips is as red as blood, and her hair is as black as ebony. That's what most books would start as an intro. When her mother was still alive, she often tells her mother that when she's grown up, she would be just like Snow White. A pretty, docile, young lady who will make the older woman happy. Her mom gladly approved at that time. 

Without her permission, another set of tears swell in her eyes again, making her eyes feel heavier than before. The little girl wipes the tears away and strenghtens her heart altogether. Mom wouldn't like seeing me cry, she spoke to herself. 

Just as she lifts her eyes again, a white dodgeball weakly bounces her way, and stops just in front of her little feet. She stares at the ball for two seconds before she can feel someone runs towards her, probably wants to get the ball back. She sighs and pretends to read her book still, as if she didn't see the ball coming. But as her line of vision shows her two familiar shoes, she knows this person wouldn't ignore her presence. 

"Hana - chan!", a squeak is heard from above, "You came so early!" 

Hana really tries her best not to look up and snort. After all it is her intention to ignore the annoying boy's chatterings. She knows that since yesterday, this one boy keeps on chasing her all around the kindergarten area, saying that he admires her from the moment when she forgave him. 

So, when she only spares him a glance and goes back on her reading, the boy grits his teeth and kneels in front of her, "Do you hate me, Hana - chan?" 

Hearing that pitiful voice, the little girl once again lifts up her gaze. When she did that though, she regrets it. After all she's met with an idiot-looking face of a boy who's responsible for their fight yesterday, Yami - kun. 

"I don't hate you,", Hana replies, "But I don't like you." 

"Eeeeeeeh?", Yami groans, "Isn't that the same thing?" 

"Well, well, well! I see you two are going close!", the sudden voice startle both kids as they immediately turn their attention to the speaker. 

"Aki - sensei!!", Yami happily greets as he runs towards the blond teacher who just came from the back exit. He seems to be a bit late, but he still spares some time to catch the energetic boy into his arms. 

"That's good, Yami - kun!", the teacher says, "I'm happy to see you getting along with Hana - chan." 

While the boy is blushing, the girl that stays under the tree just snorts. Really, she's not acting up like a tsundere but she just doesn't like the boy from the start. And hearing that kind of support from her teacher irritates her too. 

Seconds later, the blond teacher lets go of the little boy and finally excuses himself from the two children. 

* * *

"Takaba - sensei!", the older woman speaks to him, "How dare you to be late this morning? You sure know we have several preparations to do before the class starts!" 

"I'm sorry...", Akihito bows a perfect 90 degrees to show the head of the teachers some respect, "I.. I will not be late from tomorrow on, Nakashima - san!" 

The woman only sighs, "Okay then, just put your bag in your locker. We have some briefing to do. After all we're getting close to the parent meeting day." 

After that, Akihito is left at the staff's room alone, well basically because he's late and everybody else has prepared before him. The blond then sighs while searching for his locker key inside his pocket. 

As he slides in the key, his mind brings back the memories of last night, which is of course the reason why he's late. 

**Flasback**

_"I.. I'm sorry!", the blond immediately apologized upon bumping against a person, most likely a customer. He bowed so low maybe it was more than 90 degrees, good thing his white shirt could cover his bottom. ___

_When he didn’t hear any kind of reply from the person he just bumped onto, he slowly lifted up his gaze, and straightened up his posture. From the bottom look, this customer he met must be a VIP guest or something, judging by his black shining loafers and his pair of tailor suit pants. **This could also be the guest that has been stirring the dancers earlier!** Akihito thought to himself as he wearily looked upwards. **This person must think I was clumsy!**_

_He had expected a disgusted look. He really did._

_But what surprised him the most was the kind of expression this customer was showing to him. It didn’t show disgust, it didn’t show displeased, neither it was angry. He showed him a straight look, with a slight amusement drawn over it._

_But what caught Akihito’s attention the most was that set of eyes. Golden eyes, which were pretty rare especially for Asian. **Is he a foreigner? But he looks to Japanese too me..**_

_As Akihito continued to stare at the man, the man also, stared at him back. Observing him from the tip of his hair to the bottom of his heels. Upon realizing this, Akihito unconsciously got nervous. The intensity of that stare sent shivers down to his bone. It was as if this man in front of him was currently striping him off his skin with his glare. Without his permission, Akihito suddenly felt really, really embarrassed and awkward. Judging by the way this man looked at him, he probably had known that Akihito is a man and that made things worst. The blond clumsily pulled the lowest hem of his shirt so that it could cover some parts of his tights (though it was a bit futile) and bowed again before getting on his heels and worked on walking pass him._

_He didn’t know that walking on a pair of heels could be pretty hassle._

_Until he felt it himself._

_He didn’t know why his walk felt suddenly unbalanced, and why the hell the heels felt higher than before. Before he could control it, his right foot fell off it’s platform, and with the help of the super-high-heels and gravity, Akihito’s whole weight fell to the right, making him reflexively fished out something near to grab so he wouldn’t fall ungraciously and unceremoniously onto the floor._

_He didn’t know that the closest object that was within his reach was the fine fabric of a black tux._

_Akihito closed his eyes, and readied himself for the impact from hitting the floor._

_But strangely, it never happened._

_A strong, big arm suddenly snaked around his waist, and gently supported his whole weight. That sudden action made Akihito opened his large hazel eyes, which were immediately met with two golden ones._

_The man from earlier just caught him, saving him from the impact, also from the embarrassment he would get. And Akihito realized himself clinging onto him, putting both hands on the man’s chest to pull the fabric, thankfully it didn’t break in his hold._

_For a few seconds they stayed like that for awhile. It was like the time had stopped, and there were only the two of them in the silent corridor. Akihito could practically feel the slow, warm breeze that came out of nowhere to softly brush against his cold cheeks, following the soft, unsteady thump of the beating of his heart beneath his chest. It felt strangely romantic, as if it just came out from a movie, with the man and the blond as the main casts._

_It didn’t last long though, as Akihito was brought back to reality by the sudden movements of the man, who straightened his posture whilst straightening Akihito too. The stripper could feel the heat ran to his cheeks, causing him to pray that the dim lights could dim his blushing face too._

_“T-Thank you..”, Akihito softly spoke as he bowed, not low this time. Guessed he had learnt to not give excessive respect for his customer._

_What replied him was that handsome smirk, played so damn right under the man’s sculptured nose._

_The man slowly walked pass him as he placed his hand on the other’s shoulder, “Be careful. Next time, your ass could really be seen.”_

_Akihito’s eyes widened as the dirty whisper was delivered right into his left ear. He immediately flipped his head back to see the man walking even futher away as he put his hands in his pocket._

“That.. really embarrassed me..”, Akihito mutters to himself, “Who would have thought that he’s actually a perverted old man?!”, he continues cursing as he slowly bangs his head on the locker, causing so much noises from the metallic surface. 

_But.._

_His eyes.._

_His hands.._

_His stares that were sent towards me.._

_And his crisp, low voice.._

_Why can’t I get those out of my mind?_

Akihito still remembered vividly how it felt in the man’s embrace, even though it happened for a mere minute and he didn’t even know the man’s name. They probably won’t meet again, that’s for sure. Except, if he’s a regular customer in the club. 

_Not that I hope for it_ , Akihito pouts. 

_And that man.. he even dared to appear in my dream last night.._

_Causing me to.._

_NO!!_ Akihito fights himself, _Stop thinking about it Aki! Remember, those kids need you!_

As he keeps on chanting to himself that he should forget the man, he grabs the usual white apron inside his locker, and ties it around his waist. Glancing at the clock, he hurries his preparation as the briefing for the parents meeting day would probably start soon. 

Another day to go, he guesses. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me a little longer on finishing this one. and BAD NEWS, examinations r coming my way! idk how long i will handle studying while writing like this, but i think im getting busier so.. but but BUT I WILL ALWAYS TRY MY HARDEST TO UPDATE MY STORIES DONT WORRY MY LIL BABIES!  
> i took a lot of time using html editor, anyone could help?  
> btw, I do not own the Finder Series. but seriously, if i do, i will make VF into a fluffy kind of story so it might be better if i dontXD


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when is the last time I update this?... oh March... hell yeah thats long...  
> so I really am sorry for the delay. I know that I was such a lazy ass over these last two months and I'm not gonna deny it. So hate me as much as you want but please don't hate the story:(  
> it's self-beta'd (with the help of Microsoft Word 2007 like usual) so I'm just gonna warn you of the crappy words or grammar errors ahead.  
> enjoy:3

After putting all of his things inside his locker in the staff room, Akihito immediately rushes towards the meeting room, which is luckily located not too far from where he is right now. He could only make out a few faces of the teachers through the not-so-transparent door, but he could tell that all the staffs are already present, sitting themselves on their reserved seats while waiting for this one teacher that is unexpectedly late for this important morning: him.

Finally reaching the door, the blond teacher grips the doorknob and swings it forward, ripping the door out of its frame. Several pairs of eyes immediately came to welcome him, sending chills down his spine. Guilt is clearly drawn all over his face as he lowers down his head and mutters a soft "sorry" before sitting down on one available seat which is at the farthest corner, far away from the principal who's the center of attention.

The principal herself only gives him a single glance, along with a tiny smile, before turning her attention back at the matter at hand and speaks, "Good morning, everyone! Now that I see everyone's already here, I think it's time for us to start the weekly morning meeting."

At that, all the chattering and whisper immediately fade into the thin air as the persons attended silently respect the authority in the woman's voice. Akihito also, straightens up his sitting posture and leans closer, hoping that it could at least help him to know what the woman is going to talk about.

"As you know, this week agenda is about the Annual Parents' Meeting Day that is going to be held next Monday.", she stands up, placing both hands on the table as to emphasize the heavy atmosphere of business, "For that special occasion, I'm thinking about adding an also special event in between, and that is of course, is to show the parents the development of their children."

"And for the succession of this event, I absolutely need your cooperation as the teachers to be the medium.", at that, she grabs several papers from a file that has been rested right on the table in front of her, only to inspect it one by one as she continues, "I have several ideas that I need your attentions about..."

 

* * *

 

Hana sighs for the umpteenth time that morning as she usually does every other morning. With her fairy tale book she has in her hands, she tries so hard to get herself distracted from the noise that surrounded her. She always hates her classroom, because it's cramped, it's full of noisy and annoying kids, and once she gets herself in there, she could not manage to get out easily, not to mention another lecture that will surely come from his uncle once he knows she's been attempting to skip class.

But she couldn't handle it anymore. All she has ever wanted in life is a quiet and peaceful life—well, literally quiet—and all she gets first thing in the morning is this: stuck in a class for a full 30 minutes with no purpose. The teachers seem to have sneakily being late or ring the bell earlier than usual just to have her stuck in that predicament. And the kids without teachers? They are like lions; lions without their tamer. And what happens with the lions that don't have a tamer? As far as she knows from reading too many books, the lions will run free and out in the wild, roaring and making people's life miserable. Or in this case, ‘the lions’ is the other kids, while ‘the people’ resembles her. She sighs.

Looking around her, the other kids are running around and laughing all the way, irritating her the more she looks at them. As her black rounded eyes keep on scanning the classroom, they eventually land on a group of kids, which consists of a boy who's surrounded by girls. Inspecting closely, Hana could make out the familiar face of 'Yami - kun', all wide smile and messy appearance. Contradicting to her normal reaction—annoyed, obviously—the girls around him only laugh, probably from the jokes he spoke earlier which Hana didn't catch nor did she care.

Hana immediately whips her head back to her reading as she scowls internally. That boy doesn’t seem to notice her at all, even though he has been budging her to become her friend since days ago. And now, look at him! All wide smile and probably oblivious to her presence. It’s not like Hana wants his attention, but she’s just irritated at how inconsistent he is. He said he wants to be her friend but now he’s totally ignoring her.

Once again, it’s not like Hana _wants_ his attention.

The sound of the door being slid open catches her attention as she is still in the middle of the story: where Princess Snow White accidentally ate the poisoned apple that was given by the evil old granny that was actually her evil step-mother. In an instant, the noisy kids around her immediately return to their own reserved seats, waiting patiently for the teacher to come inside. Not too long after that, a mop of blond hair pops in through the little opening of the door, and a figure of a tall young man with a wide, warm smile plastered below his nose reveals himself to the children, looking really casual with only a white plain t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans on beneath that apron.

He walks towards the teacher’s desk at the corner of the room and gently places the absent book, before turning his head back to the class in front of him. Still smiling, he claps his hands once to gain the attention before greeting a rather enthusiastic and cheerful “good morning” to the students, just like any other morning.

Hana just ignores it and as usual, tries to act as bored as usual: eyes half-dropped while her one knuckle supports her cheek as she stares blankly at the teacher on the front. Yami – kun, who apparently chooses to sit next to her, only stares at her curiously, as if what she is doing is alien to him. The girl could feel him staring at her—judging by the way he is so blatant about it—and cleverly decides to ignore him.

Yami opens his mouth slightly, but then hesitantly closes it again as he realizes a new presence that has inched close to his seat. He clumsily gets his attention back towards the front but then feels a little bit guilty that he hasn’t given any warning to the girl beside him yet; oh well, she wouldn’t look at him so it’s not his entire fault, right?

“Hana – chan?”, a familiar voice shakes her off of her daydream as well as making her head flips back towards the source; her eyes widen and she is clearly surprised by the sudden approach, “Do you listen to what I just said?”

Truth be told, Takaba – sensei has stood in front of her, smiling an intimidating smile with his both hands resting on his hips, clearly not amused by the boring look she puts on her face the entire time. Gulping down the sudden lump in her throat, she couldn’t think of any excuse as she swallows down the shame and chooses to tell him the truth, “No, sensei.”

A series of giggles and chuckles emerge from around her, and she suddenly feels the urge to flee. But the way her teacher is now looking at her with such intensity seems to tone down that urge away, making her unfocused on what the other kids think about her at that moment. Doesn’t know of any more to say, she lowers down her head, praying silently and repeatedly for the teacher to go away since she already tells him she wasn’t listening and go on with whatever he is talking about.

Seeing her face grows red, Akihito only chuckles and relaxes his stance, wanting to make her fear go away, “No, I’m not mad of you, Hana – chan. Just, try to listen to what I’m saying alright? It’s important and I need your attention.”

The black-haired girl only nods—stiffly—once before a hand suddenly rubs the top of her head, messing the strands a little bit as he intends to go away.

Once he has walked back to his desk, Hana lets out a breath of relief that she hasn’t realized she has been holding the entire time the teacher was by her side. As she finally straightens up her sitting position to listen, the boy beside her hesitantly reaches her and taps his little fingers twice to get her attention. When Hana does, he apologetically looks at her, and mumbles an inaudible “sorry”.

She only glares at him, and turns her head to the front.

“So as I was saying earlier, we’re going to have a performance to show for your parents for the upcoming Parents’ Meeting Day which is next Monday. And…” Akihito looks hesitant at first but decides to say it anyway, “I’m thinking about doing a stage performance.”

“But sensei…!” one of the students raises their hand while raising the volume of his voice chirpily, “What is a stage performance? What should we do?”

Akihito immediately looks thoughtful for a moment before finally finding the right words to explain, a simple, plain words that the children could understand, “It’s like a drama. Each of you will take part of it as characters. I’m sure we will have fun doing it. Are you excited?”

The children look a little bit unsure at first but seeing that their teacher quiet likes the idea, they cheer back, giving him an approval to his proposal. Hana could only roll her eyes. _Really? A drama? Can these kids even memorize the dialogues?_

“So…” the blond strides forward, “Do you know the story of Snow White?”

Hearing the name ‘Snow White’, Hana reflexively looks upward; her eyes immediately glitter at the mentioned of her currently favorite story.

The kids could only—energetically—shout a ‘yes’ as a reply to signal the teacher to continue, “We are going to play that story out into action! So, could you tell me all the characters?”

“The prince!” one female student shouts.

“The seven small people!” the other following.

“The hun- hunter!”

“And Princess Snow White!” suddenly, an unfamiliar voice echoes from behind, and Hana immediately covers her mouth with her both hands. _What did I just do?!_ She shouts internally, hating herself more and more as she tries to recompose herself back to her seat.

All eyes are suddenly on her and she just knows that she’s screwed, trying to at least bury herself under the floor as she shrinks back to as far from the class as possible. Akihito’s eyes are one of them, and even though he was super surprised at first, he gains back to his expression and chuckles, clapping his hands once again to rip the kids’ eyes off the poor little girl.

“Good job, everyone! Now, I would like to choose the person to take on the characters on the play. First, who wants to be the Snow White?”

All the female students immediately raise their hands eagerly, trying to impress the teacher that they are fitted to be the character. All except Hana.

Her hands also itch to raise but she holds herself tight, not wanting to be of any part of the show. The thought of being the Snow White is absolutely tempting, she almost feels her resolve crumbling down…

Yami only observes her for awhile before grinning to himself wide. He raises his hand and calls for the teacher to look at him, “Sensei, I think Hana – chan wants to take that part.”

Hearing that, Hana defiantly whips her head to him, eyes glare in disbelief. _What did you just say?! Her_ expression says.

Akihito thinks about it a little and looks at the girl. Even though she’s clearly unhappy about what Yami just announced, she doesn’t even deny it. Her face just blushes a deep red as she hides her face by lowering them, using her bangs to close it like a curtain. Pfft, she clearly wants it.

And more than that, she obviously has the right feature. Her black raven hair, her white skin that Akihito bets would look good if it’s contrasted by the red lipstick that would be put on her lips. He has the right eye for art after all.

Smiling, the blond teacher speaks, “Well, I think Hana fits to be the Snow White. Anyone disagree?”

Thankfully, nobody gives any disapproval and just urges the teacher to keeps on going. Hana is silently grateful that nobody gave a fuss but most of her is actually panicking at the fact that she’s going to take part in it, the main character even! She knows it is better to just stay at home and watches Suoh’s DVDs… she suddenly regrets that she underestimate the impact the kindergarten could give to her.

Akihito nonchalantly writes down the list of the characters on the whiteboard as well as the name of the children who plays as them. Turning his head back to face the children, he continues, “And then… who wants to be The Prince?”

At that, some male students have prepared to raise their hands but the females immediately race them, trying to suggest something it seems.

One of the girl speaks, “Why doesn’t sensei be The Prince?!”, she suggests excitedly and surprisingly, some males even agree with her, judging by the way they self-consciously puts their hands under their own desks.

Hearing that, those two hazel eyes immediately widen and his mouth gaps in surprise, “What?” he blurts suddenly, wanting to believe that he has misheard or something…

“You are fitted to be The Prince, sensei!” the other shouts from behind, “You are handsome and cool!”

“Bu-but…” the blond stutters out, suddenly doesn’t know about what to say.

He definitely wants to refuse but the look on the students’ face immediately melts his resolve. Sighing, he gets back on the whiteboard, before scribbling that one name beside ‘The Prince’ that makes the kids cheer in happiness, ‘Takaba – sensei :b’

Hana clearly doesn’t pay attention that much, as she is totally oblivious at the persons who take the other characters with her.

The choosing goes on, and by the end of it, the class is excited about the practices that would follow the next day after school.

 

* * *

 

“You gotta be kidding!” Kanata’s high-pitched voice, along with her giggles, are the only response he gets after telling her his current problem: him taking the role of Princess Snow White's charming prince. Not to mention that his Snow White is going to be Hana. He doesn’t even sure if she would be amuse by it or not.

“I told you not to laugh!” he hisses as he sips his drink: an alcohol-free, orange juice.

“But I couldn’t hold it in!”, she laughs some more; there is even a single tear resting on the corner of her eyes, “On the day you become ‘The Prince’, while at night you turn into ‘The Stripper’.”

A little bit offended, Akihito spits out bitterly, “Shut up.”

“Aww don’t be offended! I’m just joking alright??” she pleads to him playfully, “Well I think you just have to play it out well. Don’t let the kids down! I just can imagine how excited they were when they suggested you. Kids are such cute creatures!” she sighs contentedly as she sips her own drink, which is slightly alcoholic to make her a little bit relaxed for her upcoming performances that might be requested by the patrons.

Akihito pouts, “Of course I will.”

A moment of silence suddenly seeps in between them as they both are just lost in their own thoughts, enjoying the evening in the staffs room as they wait for their call, which aren’t so many like the other day when they threw on a special stripping dance for the guests. The room is currently empty since the other strippers are currently loitering around the club, hoping to catch at least one patron’s attention. They could also do that but _nah_ , Akihito’s feet have even started hurting since he put it on an hour ago so walking around isn’t an option.

The door at their right is suddenly opened, and a familiar face of the club manager suddenly peeks in. Sudou Shuu, a famous businessman that is famous in this industry not only for his work, but also for his looks. Even for a flash moment, Akihito could immediately pick up his pretty features. Those long eyelashes that are whipping against his white, smooth cheeks, that shimmering blond hair that is a little curly around his earlobes, and those stunning light-brown eyes. Akihito even has that brief moment of thoughts about his manager being a stripper like him and everybody else. He really could nail it if he wants to.

His thoughts are immediately wiped out when Sudou has suddenly stood in front of him, his eyes glare daggers at him as he stares him down, and hands cross in front of his chest. With an elegant move of his mouth, he speaks, “A guest is requesting you, _Takaba_ _–_ _kun_.”

Akihito immediately feels the chills that run down his spine the moment he calls his name. It is as if he wants to bite him to death. Nodding, Akihito only stands up and briefly groans at the shoes’ platforms that defiantly eat his poor feet. As he puts down his glass, he glances back only to see the mouthed “good luck” coming from Kanata’s mouth. He sends her a tiny smile of his own before facing forward, a little bit surprise about the fact that the manager is still standing in front of the door, seeming to wait for him until he comes out.

When he does though, his wrist is immediately grasped harshly by the other blond, and he is quickly dragged down the hall, away from the staff’s room and completely out of the girl’s earshot.

Sensing that no one is around, Sudou runs his eyes back to him, and hisses, “Listen. The one who requested you is Asami – sama, my most important guest. I don’t know what he sees in you but I will just tell you this…” the grip on his wrist tightens and Akihito groans; it will start to bruise soon if he doesn’t let go…“If you even try to fuck this up, I’m not only gonna rise your father’s debt…”

Akihito only stays there silent as he feels that the sentence is still uncompleted. Sudou immediately continues though, “But I will even do the harshest thing to you. _Brothels?_ Yeah, that sounds nice.”

As soon as the manager lets go, Akihito immediately brings his wrist to his chest as he swallows down the pain that burns. He stares back up only to find Sudou glaring at him once again before walking away, probably back to his office.

Sighing, he limply and awkwardly walks towards the club, obviously still doesn’t know where he could meet his patron yet.

 

* * *

 

A set of golden eyes welcome him the moment he steps into the booth, head down with both hands clasped close in front of his tights; clearly uncomfortable by the way the man stares at him.

He still wears a body-shaped outfit, but fortunately less opened than the other day. Only dressed in a slick, black slip dress, Akihito braces himself forward to greet his guest; his long, golden locks are immediately tucked behind his ears for better vision, but actually looks a little bit sexy, judging by the way the man looks at him.

Meeting his gaze, Akihito shyly looks away. His heart involuntarily hammers inside his chest as the situation grows more and more awkward, suddenly—and regretfully—recalling the unexpected event that happened between them yesterday. Peeking through his eyelashes, he could see the man’s hands, the hands that have held his waist, and he defiantly could feel the heat invade his entire face, right to the very tips of his ears.

A sudden chuckle jolts him out of his bones as he turns his eyes towards him again, trying to at least understand why the hell the man suddenly chuckling. _Did I do something wrong?_ _…_ _funny?_

“Why are you so nervous?”, that baritone voice speaks out, and suddenly, Akihito could feel his knees growing weak.

Gulping down the lump that suddenly builds itself inside his throat, Akihito replies, luckily not sounding as nervous as he actually is at the moment, “No, sir.”

“Yeah,” the golden-eyed man agrees, litting his cigarette as he crosses his legs, all with swift, graceful movement of a gentleman, "I think it would be odd for you to play shy now since you're working as a stripper.” at that, he smirks.

Akihito could clearly hear the mockery that drips down from his mouth casually, and he doesn't like it. He knows that working as a stripper would lose his dignity as a man and he would be seen as nothing but a slut, but he doesn't like it if people tell him directly like that. He wants to get mad, to shout and yell at the man's face to pull his words back in but he suddenly reminds himself of some restraint. Or more like a leash, that Sudou has put around his neck to stay still, to be obedient as a dog. And if he breaks it, he knows that his manager would do what he said, _meant_ what he said.

So, he just brushes that thought off his mind and leans towards the table, grabbing the bottle of whiskey before offering it to the man silently with a tilt of his head. The man then lifts his tumbler and let the blond pours the drink; golden, sparkling liquid fell graciously from the mouth of the bottle like a tiny waterfall.

After finishing his most basic service, Akihito just sits back, waiting for the man to tell him what to do until their time is up, which he sincerely hope for it to be soon because the atmosphere around them doesn't seem to be less tensed than before. If anything, it grows more awkward.

But the man doesn't seem concern at all. He just silently sips his drink while subsequently inhaling his smoke, enjoying the burn he probably feels in both his throat and lungs.

But what makes it worse is the fact that the man never left his eyes off of Akihito. It feels like he is trying to drill a hole right on his side.

Akihito tries so, so hard to distract himself by playing with his fingers—as he usually does when he's anxious—but the way the man stares him down seems to be more than effective to completely petrify him and cease his action.

"Umm...” he hesitantly mutters out, just a little bit above a whisper, "Is there something wrong, sir?"

"You seem to be different from any dancer here.” the man answers, unexpectedly sounding more thoughtful than his expressions, "You're fidgeting, nervous, and clearly not used to this kind of work. Are you new here?"

At that, Akihito only nods twice. Well, he isn't wrong. He just started working here since a week ago and this is the first time anyone has ever requested his company. And to think that his first time would be serving this man... he'd rather do a group performance for ten times than doing this.

Unbeknownst to him, Asami only smirks, before bringing his cigarette back to his lips and exhales a puff of gray-ish smoke. "Interesting.", he comments, putting the cancer stick back on the ashtray, "Sudou has never recruited anyone like you before. What is your name?"

Akihito only wants to snort when he asked it. He sure knows his name already, at least his initial since he has rent him ou- "I mean your real name."

Hearing that, Akihito couldn't contain his shock that just spreads clearly across his face. He opens his mouth, only to close it again. _Should I tell him?_ He wondered.

After thinking about some time, he finally speaks, "I'm sorry sir but it is our strict policy to not tell the customers our real names."

To his surprise, Asami only barks another chuckle, "Yeah, of course. So, what should I call you? Akira?"

 _Akira_ , a fake name that was given to him the moment he started working as a stripper; the name that is printed on the _menu_.

Akihito nods then, and lowers down his head as he waits for a command that is yet to come.

"Okay then, Akira,” the man—who he just recalled is called Asami—speaks up again, "Seeing you are still inexperienced in this kind of job, why don't we start slowly?"

Realizing that Akihito is obviously confused by what he just said, Asami continues, "Why don't you be my drinking friend until the time is up? I actually need someone to help me finish this up."

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't help but make Hana a tsundere I'm so sowwyXD (not that I'm honestly sorry about that because tsundere is my addiction hu-uh). I just want to point that out in this end notes lol  
> I do not own the Finder Series


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a lot more time to upload this... for that, I'm terribly sorry:( I have imagined the plot in my mind but the thing is just that, the ability to write is... none. I somehow couldn't write as smoothly as I did before, and you may realize it as well at the repetitive words and the lack of rich words I use. I admit I was kind of uncomfortable writing this so for me, this is not my best chapter of this story. I just want to update sooner and tell you more of the story faster, so please forgive me /bows/
> 
> Self beta'd.

The consciousness slowly seeps into his mind as his alarm clock rings right beside his head, actually worsening the painful throbbing that is currently thrumming inside his brain. Upon receiving the harsh sunlight through the window, Akihito shuts his eyes tightly reflexively before slowly fluttering them open, gently as to adjust the light to his sleepy eyes. Everything is a slight blur when he opens them, but he quickly adjusts and eventually finds himself inside his own apartment—judging by the familiar room along with the familiar things that surround him at the moment—and unsurprisingly finding himself still dressed in his work attire last night; the slip dress, along with the wigs and make-ups that have faded slightly. With carefulness attached, the blond slowly brings himself to sit up, still feeling a little bit dazed off thanks to his still offline brain.

_This must be hangover_ Akihito thinks to himself, as the drought inside his throat and the slight ache that spreads throughout his body make themselves known. With great effort, Akihito slowly straightens his sitting position only to give out a loud cry of pain, before finally bringing his body to stand up to at least get some water. There's this imaginary sand storm soaring inside his throat honestly.

Upon reaching his mini kitchen, the blond takes sight of his cell phone, and absentmindedly walks over to take it. What welcomes him as he clicks the lock button is the large font of the digital clock, telling himself that he is actually terribly late for the morning class he has at 8. Sighing, he checks the missing calls and just as he has expected, one of the teachers has phoned him several times, piling up the guilt that is already built itself inside the lowest pit of his stomach. He repeats a mental apology as he types a text, at least notifying the school that he will come around noon for after-school practice with his class; and of course, along with a heartfelt apology.

When the message has already been sent, he presses the button that takes him to the main screen, showing him the many menus that are featured in his phone. His hazel eyes slowly run to the upper icons, absentmindedly focusing his attention towards the farthest right one. His thumb slowly taps the directional button, and the indicator swiftly moves to the desired icon, opening it in a second the moment he clicks on it.

The many albums of photos are shown to his view as he opens up the gallery. He doesn't know when he did it but he somehow had collected all of his photos from his old computer and stuffed them there, collecting and grouping them even to several albums. In his still dazed mind, he clicks on the lowest album on the list, which opens up the photos of him when he was still a baby, maybe around 2 or 3 years old. Some photos of himself triggers the laugh out of his stomach, but some he just passes them, clicking and viewing them one by one.

And there he goes on to the next album, which stored the photos of him as an elementary student, and so on. On and on until he reaches the last album, which is just under the Recent Photos file.

Oddly enough, there is only one photo stored in there, and Akihito honestly has forgotten about that photo itself. Opening it, the photo automatically zoomed in to show him the picture of himself, with his parents standing at each of his sides, the three persons smiling their warmest smiles to the camera. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he can recall the memory that is hidden beneath the picture, the perfect history for it: his graduation day on high school.

There stood his mother, all blond and a natural beauty even in the age of 30. She had worn her best navy dress to that special occasion, even though it didn't really cost that much but it still looked good on her nevertheless. Her smile was radiant, brilliant, beautiful even, completely showing off her motherly love and pride towards her only son through that smile.

And there was his dad, with his stiff smile and his always stiff stance, standing beside him like he was a new soldier going through a coronation day. His hair was brown, with a little hint of white strands at some part, probably from the distress he felt in his rough days at work.

Those were beautiful days he recalled, filled with his everlasting childhood which he spent with pranks and other mild crimes an 18-year-old boy could possibly commit with his friends. He was still happy with his small family, with having a mother who worked at home and father that worked as your usual salary man. Everything was perfect for his simple life. He felt so contended, he didn't want it to change and of course he had never thought it will.

But to his own surprise, everything changed, automatically on the day his mother died in that car accident.

As he sips the cold water he has gotten from the fridge to at least ease the drought inside his throat, the memories of the days he spent with his father in their tiny home seeps into his mind. Those days where his father drowned himself in alcohol, completely abandoning his role as a father to the high-schooler. At first, Akihito didn't really mind. But the longing he felt for parents' love became too much and that caused them to argue a lot.

But Akihito believed that they argued because they cared for each other. And he held into that belief for many years, kept on encouraging himself that everything would still be alright if they stayed like this.

Until one day, his father started an argument that they couldn't finish, that broke his wish for a happy life together forever.

He stares into the picture longingly, until he feels a familiar ache throbbing inside his chest. He has held the tears for too long, he doesn't think he could know how by now.

"Father...” he mutters, his voice comes out hoarse and just barely above a whisper, "Just how many more months do I have to-"

An incoming call rips him out of his musing, jolting the bones underneath the skin of his hand as he holds the vibrating device. His hazel eyes stare into the screen and it doesn't take that long for him to find the caller ID, "Good morning, Kanata - san."

"Aki - chii!!” a higher pitched voice answers his weak one, "You just got up? You are late for your morning class!"

"I know... I have told the teachers that I would come at noon.” he lets out a sigh before continuing, "So... What brings you to call me this early? You usually wake up later in the evening."

"Don't patronize me boy! I can wake up earlier if I want to, geez...” she puffs, "I just want to know how you are doing... Last night, you were totally trashed!"

"Trashed?!” at that, he jumps on his spot, feeling his sleepiness fully disappears from his mind, "Like... How trashed? Are you the one who took me home? What happened when I got drunk? What did Asami - san sai-"

"Whoa, whoa! Chill! You are raining down questions on me!” a giggle is heard afterward, and Akihito suddenly feels a little bit uneasy for the respond he would get from her.

"Okay so... You are drunk, like really drunk. I didn't know what did you do in that VIP booth but then Asami - sama took you out of the room," there is a dramatic pause, "...bridal style."

"What?!", at that, the blond feels the blood rushes towards his head, the color of red coloring his whole face as he feels himself heating up, "You gotta be kidding!"

For a moment, he just stands there, allowing himself to digest the information he just received from his colleague. The realization hits him so suddenly, making him trying so hard to at least recall something about last night, to at least remember a bit about it. His hazel eyes widen as another possibility rises in his mind, and he immediately speaks it up the moment the thought pops in the back of his mind, “He… he was not the one who took me home… was he?”

There is a slight hesitation coloring in her voice as she answers, “Umm… actually…”

 

* * *

 

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the prettiest in this whole word?!”, the little pig-tailed haired girl squeals, talking to the mirror in front of her as she plays her role wonderfully, after a fifth rehearsal it is.

The smaller boy that hides behind the mirror fidgets as his turn is coming closer. He clumsily takes a look at his notes as he stutters, “Um… the prettiest is… umm…”

“Okay, stop right there!”, the blond teacher suddenly speaks up, approaching the imaginary stage in front of him and the other students who act as the audience as he reaches for the girl student, “You did a great job, Isa – chan.”, at that, he gently places his warm palm on top of her head and pats it softly. The girl shows him her brightest smile as she tilts her head upwards, before slowly leaning against the gentle gesture her teacher gave her.

Akihito then slowly approaches the mirror, which hides the little boy who is curled behind him, probably afraid at the kind of comment his teacher would give him. He puts both of his hands on top of his head as if to protect himself from an impact he knows would come any time. The teacher only sighs, before slowly kneeling beside the mirror to reach the smaller boy’s eye level. “Haru – kun,” he calls, making sure that his voice comes out as gentle as possible.

The boy slowly meets his teacher’s gaze as he continues, “Was it hard?”

“Y-yes, sensei…” the kid nods along. His eyes are obviously swelling from the tears that he tries so hard to hold in, “I… I have tried to remember… my words but…” his small voice is cracking, and his breath hitches in the middle of his throat as he tries to speak each word perfectly.

Seeing that, Akihito reflexively pulls the crying boy inside his arms, before slowly soothing him and his worries away with a light several pats he puts on the boy’s small back, “It’s okay. Sensei does that sometimes. It’s totally fine. Haru – kun will be able to do this in no time, sensei believes that!” he cheers, as he slowly pulls back to look at the kid right in the eye, “So… I will wipe these tears away…” his hands immediately move to do what he exactly says, “…and after this, Haru – kun should promise sensei that Haru – kun will do even better than this, alright?” at that, Akihito defiantly sticks his right pinkie finger out, attempting a pinkie finger promise.

The boy slowly nods, before sticking his own finger out, twisting it with his sensei’s as he makes the promise to himself deep in his heart. For a moment, Akihito waits for his student to recover up, and as if sensing his intention, the little kid gradually lifts up his chin and smiles wide at him, the sadness and tears immediately forgotten.

“Alright, everybody! Time for break!” Akihito announces as he stands up, receiving a loud and cheerful cheer from his students as a reply.

Kids start pouring out of the class and fill the empty park behind the building, leaving the class entirely empty. Sighing, Akihito makes his way towards his desk, which is located at the corner of the class. As he sits down, his eyes catch sight of a familiar figure, who sits down at the farthest seat in the room, oblivious to his presence as she is currently looking out the window. The teacher stands up once again, and with a mischievous smile, he slowly approaches the little girl, thankfully still doesn’t aware of their distance that is starting to seize.

“Hana – chan!” Akihito calls, making his voice a pitch higher to startle the little kid.

And as he has expected, the girl’s small body jumps on her body, and her head immediately whips to face him. Her rounded, brown eyes widen, as if in shock, as she reflexively backs off a little from her sudden offender. They just stay like that for a moment, just staring at each other’s eyes before the teacher breaks the ice for them with his warm smile, which is suddenly stretched from ear to ear below his nose.

“Hana – chan,” he calls again, gaining the girl’s attention fully, “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take a break too?”

As if waking up from her thinking, Hana just shakes her head, before abruptly throwing her vision back to the window, as if the scenery is the most beautiful thing in the world. Akihito only sighs, but decides to take a seat right beside her, on Yami’s seat to be precise.

Looking at her fully, Akihito realizes that in her both hands, she holds a book, which if he looks a little bit closer, titled ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’. At that, his smile widens, and he immediately lunges forward towards the girl’s seat as he says, “Whoa! I’m glad Hana – chan tries hard to be the role of Snow White.”

Once again, she is jolted out by the sudden voice that is obviously close to her ear-shot, and immediately turns her head back towards the grinning teacher, who is surprisingly eye-to-eye to her at this point. She throws him her best glare before putting her book between them, as if the piece of book itself could do as much as shielding her from the cheerful smile that is beaming on her teacher’s feature. Hana then pulls her mouth into a frown, before answering, “It’s… It’s not that I want to be Snow White or something. I just do what I have to do!” she then faces forward once again before flipping her book open to read, “I have to do a great job. Not only I have to play with seven noisy kids, I also have to play with the Prince in the end!” she exclaims, her voice closing to a shout. She’s clearly covering it up but from the way Akihito heard it, she’s obviously excited about it. But then he wisely chooses to stay silent, afraid that if he talks it out, the girl would most likely hate him more.

Akihito is clearly surprised when the girl turns her head once again to meet him, her eyes piercing as she opens her mouth, “Sensei, who is going to play the Prince’s role?”

At that, the blond is immediately dumbfounded, suddenly feeling unsure of what he should answer. _Should I tell her?_ He asks himself. He knows for sure that Hana wouldn’t like the idea of working with him, judging by their banters from the earlier days until now. But seeing the curiosity glinting in her eyes only make his doubts and fears crumble down. Sighing, he let out a nervous laugh, “You weren’t listening, were you?”

Seeing that there’s not a single kid that could tease her for it, she gives an obvious nod, her face expressionless and straight as if what she did isn’t wrong.

“Well…” Akihito hesitates a little, but the next moment he speaks up, he strengthens up his determination to say it, “I… will be the Prince.”

The answer is like a hard slap across her cheeks as she hears it. Her brown eyes widen once again, and her face turns paler within seconds. She opens her mouth, but then closes it, but then opens it again, and after that just lets it gap for a moment.

Akihito has expected that kind of reaction, and he only lets out a breath, “Yeah… surprising, right? I know what you’re thinking, Hana – chan. ‘What is a teacher doing in our drama?!’ or something like that… right?” before waiting for an answer, he continues, “But I couldn’t do much about it. Your friends suggested me to fill in the role, and I couldn’t really reject it so… yeah.”

“I know you probably hate working with me but please just bear it, Hana – chan.”, Akihito puts on his pleading smile, as he leans closer so he could at least inspect her emotion and perhaps could make out what her next reaction will be, “This is for me, and your entire friends.”

Unexpectedly, the girl slowly relaxes her face muscles and instead of sulking, she just lets out a sigh as she calmly pulls her book to continue her reading, “I’m okay working with you, Takaba – sensei. I’m already 5, and I’m adult enough to not abandon what I have to do.”

It highly amazes Akihito of how mature the kid in front of him is. This kind of thing would usually anger a 5-year-old kid, but here she is, sitting on her seat with her calm face and acts as if what he just said didn’t really nudge something sensitive she has in her for him. At one point, he suddenly wonders what kind of life this girl has. One day he had seen her walking home with a bulky-looking man with sunglasses and perfectly fitted to be a yakuza. But other than that, he still doesn’t know what kind of person she is… moreover about her parents. What kind of people are they?

He immediately shakes off his thoughts when he realized that Hana is currently staring at him, her expression is filled with confusion as her eyes look at him weirdly. Akihito then shows her another smile as he pulls his seat closer so he could look at what part the girl is reading. Thankfully, Hana herself doesn’t really mind it seems.

Sensing that the silence between them becomes too unbearable, Akihito finally speaks up, “So… Hana – chan, who will come to the Parents’ Meeting day? Will it be your father?”

Akihito could vividly feel the girl beside him tensed, before shaking her head several times as an answer. Hesitating, he asks again, “Then… will it be your mother then?”

Oddly for him, Hana shakes her head again; the frown on her expression seems to pull in deeper within seconds he let that question out.

Before he could mutter any more words, though, the girl abruptly stands up. Her eyes darken, as well as her entire expression do, “My father… my mother… none of them will come.”

With that, she takes her book and runs outside, leaving the confused teacher alone with his own thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Akihito is immediately jerked up by the sound of footsteps that echoed from behind him. Turning his head around, a figure of a familiar woman meets his sight, and he defiantly leans back against his seat as he sighs in contentment. Looking at his relaxed expression upon seeing her, Kanata only smiles, before sitting right next to him while handing him his usual drink: orange juice.

“Now, now, tell me what’s wrong.” she starts, putting her glass on the make-up table that stands in front of them as she faces him with her face filled with concern.

“Why do you say that?” Akihito asks, hastily bringing up his drink to at least calm his nerves.

“You have been sighing this whole time, geez.” the woman replies, drinking her own drink as well as she continues, “And you look slightly unfocused. So, I guess something happened at school?”

Giving up to her top interrogation skill, Akihito lets out an exasperated sigh, “Yeah… you could probably say that. I’m worried about one of my female students…”

“Oh? What’s wrong with her?”

“When I asked her who will be going as her guardian to the Parents’ Meeting Day next Monday, she said none of her parents is going to come. I’m worried.” at that, his frown grows even deeper, worries clouding his mind.

Kanata on the other hand, also gives it a thought, tilting her head to one side as she speaks, “Eh? That’s kind of worrying! Don’t you know anything about her background or something?”

“Unfortunately no…” Akihito puts his glass back onto the table, “I’m new there. And the teachers don’t really talk about it during meetings so… there’s nothing I could do.”

Just as the brunette dancer is about to open her mouth to speak, the door at the other side of the staff’s room is suddenly ripped open, revealing the figure of their manager standing there with his ever-so-polished blond hair, dressed in his usual white business suit that eyes them with an intensity of an angry predator. Both dancers are frozen on their own spots as the blond man strides towards them, his eyes seem to never lift away from Akihito, which sends chills down the blond stripper’s spine. The sound of his loafer shoes against the hard floor is the only thing that could be heard in the entire room, the temperature suddenly drops 10 degrees below from the intense tension that thickens in the thin air.

The manager stops as he faces Akihito fully, there is something that is obviously uncomfortable radiating off of him. With dark blue eyes he eyes him, the sinister glare isn’t properly covered by his blond bangs, “Akihito – kun, a patron just requested for you.”

From the way he said it, Akihito somehow knows immediately who his patron is. And his fear is immediately changed into nervousness, the kind of nervousness that occurred when he… anticipates something?

With a single nod, Akihito slowly strides across the room, out to the corridors filled with various VIP booths. From behind him, he could still feel that glare throwing daggers to his back, chilling him down and silently urging him to just do his job right and be done and over with it.

 

* * *

  

Asami is admittedly amused by the sudden service he gets first thing when his chosen stripper came to the special booth.

No, he didn’t ask for it, the stripper himself did it by his own will. Asami just sat there, enjoying his drink as he waited and then the blond dancer suddenly came bursting into the room, face flushed into a color of bright red that could only be described as embarrassment, and he immediately bent his upper body low as a respective bow, under 90 degrees even. Asami was worried a little at the fact that he wears another body-fitted clothing that is shorter than yesterday’s dress, because it could only help to cover the boy’s bottom and who knows who was currently looking at him from out there (because he has wisely let the door open as he bowed).

From between the golden locks that fall gracefully from his crown, Asami could see Akira shutting his eyes close, so tight that it eventually causes some wrinkles to form at the sides of his eyes. Before he could speak, though, the stripper raced him.

“T-Thank you very much, sir!”, he half-yells, shutting his eyes even more as the words he wished to speak out comes out of his mouth easier than he has expected.

Asami remains calm, but slowly, he starts arching an eyebrow, silently questioning about this form of gratitude that he suddenly showed to him. Akira only stays like that, head dips low to the floor as he waits for anything the man has to say to him.

Luckily for him, Asami finally speaks, “To what do I owe this gratitude?”

The baritone voice that comes out of the man’s lips sounds so smooth in his ears it sends some shivers down his spine. But Akihito only bites his lip, before slowly forming the words inside his head. With hesitation attached, his soft voice finally rings out of his mouth, speaking out the words that have been budging his mind the entire walk he had to that very booth, “For… for taking me home last night… sir.”

Unbeknownst to Akihito, Asami slowly smirks, before drinking the golden liquid he has in his tumbler as he responds, “That’s fine. You should have told me that your alcohol tolerance is _that_ low.”

“…sorry.”, Akihito replies, a little bit flustered at the imagination he has of himself drunken and probably did… something embarrassing in front of his respectable patron.

Akihito really has no intention of lifting up his head to meet with his guest’s gaze, but when that baritone voice comes out again only to tell him to sit down; he involuntarily complies, shakily getting back to his stance to sit down beside the man who is far from uncomfortable at his presence. Totally contrast to him though; Akihito is obviously fidgeting on his seat, playing with his own fingers to distract himself as he sees the man has no interest on ordering anything at the moment.

When his mind is just about to fly somewhere, the man besides him shifts, and it instantly makes him to jerk his head to look at whatever the man is up to. Akihito immediately regrets his decision to look up when his eyes meet the Asami’s, still piercing and sharp and animalistic as ever.

His heartbeat pace immediately speeds up when Asami just stares at him, intently, making the adrenaline rushes right to every organs of his body. Akihito only nervously opens his mouth, but then closes it again, unsure of what to say to at least ask the man what he has in mind.

As if sensing his intention, the man answers his silent question, “There is just one thing that has been bothering me though…”

Hearing that, Akihito’s curiosity perks up, “Uhh… what is it, sir?”

“Do you usually kiss anybody when you’re drunk?”

It feels like somebody has exactly thrown a big rock over his little head, crashing his every ability to speak or at least to form some coherent words to responds. His eyes widen in shock, while his hazel irises start dilating to little dots. His mouth shut tight in a grim line as he slowly feels the little droplets of sweat suddenly forms itself on his forehead. But most of all, though, the question itself has successfully made his throat clenches in disbelief, eventually making it harder to breath and even harder to think.

After several seconds have passed, Akihito finally bursts out a single “what?” with his mouth still gaps open. He is unfortunately currently unable to think of any other word to speak.

“I’m sure you heard just perfectly of what I said.” with that, Asami slowly inhales his cancer stick, exhaling the grey smoke slowly from his mouth as he enjoys the familiar burn he feels in his lungs.

It takes Akihito a few more seconds to think, and when he eventually does, he stutters out, “I-I’m sorry b-but… last n-night… did I…”, his face blushes, before slowly continuing where he left off, “…did I… to… you…?”

His only answer is only a smirk, which curled up on the man’s lips right after he finished his words. Akihito immediately bows his head again as the mortification fills his entire head. His eyes once again shut tight as he feels the familiar heat fills his entire face, silently chanting and praying for the earth to just divide and engulfs himself in it. At least it is still better rather than being mortified by reality.

“I… I’m sorry! I’m sorry, sir! That wouldn’t happen in the future again, I assure you of it! Please forgive my incompetence! Pl-“

His own talking stops abruptly by a hand that suddenly touches his cheek. Hesitantly, Akihito slowly forces himself to look up, only to be faced with Asami’s face so close he almost couldn’t handle the intensity he has on his face.

“I don’t really understand,” Asami speaks up, eyes never leaving him, “You’re working in this kind of industry yet you… don’t really like drinking, and even freaks out when you accidentally kissed someone.”, he stops for a moment, thinking about the next set of words he is going to say before continuing, “I don’t really mean to judge the kind of work strippers do but you really are an unusual one.”

With that, he slowly lets go of the blond’s face, before leaning back against his seat once again. Before Akihito could respond to him, Asami raced him, “Say, you’re not really into this kind of job, are you?”

At that, Akihito only lifts his gaze a little, before eventually shaking his head ‘no’, eyes still cast downwards.

“Then, why are you doing this?”

Akihito only stays silent, and Asami could see that he really doesn’t give him any indication to answer. Sighing, Asami only offers his tumbler and lets the stripper pours another shot for him. The two only spends the rest of the time staying silent, only accompanied by the sound of the liquid being poured out, until the whole bottle is finished and the time is up.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy it! Comments and critics (and kudos:b) are welcomed!  
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd so grammatical mistakes are inevitable!

It is a little bit after midnight when Akihito finally arrived at his own apartment. His mouth opens up to let out a sigh as he takes off his sneakers, all of the work demands and physical exhaustion start to catch up on him. Without any concern of hygiene, the blond immediately swayed towards his bedroom, not even bothering to change his clothes or at least make him more presentable as someone who wants to go to bed to sleep.

Against his will, his mind starts to drift off somewhere, brings himself flying towards unwanted thoughts that are caused by so many facts he just knew today. An image of a sweet, silent, black-haired girl pops into his mind, and it is seconds later that his brain finally succeeds on registering the girl’s name.

He is honestly still worried about that kid. There’s just something unusual going around her. She’s definitely not acting like most 5 year olds and this scares him. _I mean, aren’t kids around her age supposed to be more… let’s say… whiny or… needy?_  He immediately remembers that time when Hana first interacted with Yami. He recalls the way she glared daggers, clearly disliking her boy classmate, but he is also reminded by the fact that she regained her composure too quickly for a kid her age. Normally, girls her age would be more selfish—having this thick-head that doesn’t allow them to forgive the ones they hate easily; but _this_? This kind of tolerance doesn’t suit her age.

And somehow, he thinks that her attitude is somehow connected to the weird answer he got this morning from her regarding her parents. _She clearly burst out that any of them won’t be coming to the Parent’s Meeting…_ the blond muses, raking his head for more possible thread to connect each of the scrambled puzzles. Her eyes were kind of wild when she said that, as if a mention of her parents left a bitter aftertaste in her tongue. _Isn’t it weird for kindergarten kids to speak of their parents with such distaste?_

Akihito lie on his back, one of his arms is placed behind the back of his head to support it. His confused hazel eyes run towards the ceiling, his brain spinning around to solve the unsolved mysteries that surround her. He honestly wants to find out about her, because, the more he knows her, the more worrying she becomes. As her teacher, he truly feels the need to know her from the very core of her as an ordinary 5 year old girl.

Akihito doesn’t really care about the time but he just knows that it doesn’t take too long for the exhaustion to claim him and put him in another dreamless sleep.

  

* * *

 

 

Days pass faster than he has expected and it is already Monday before he knew it. The destined Annual Parents’ Meeting Day has finally arrived and the fact alone has successfully thrown the whole kindergarten on going on chaos, all teachers preparing all necessary things to make the educational facility to look at its finest and best, just to make the parents proud. The honorable invited guests, in this case, the parents, are scheduled to assemble around 10 AM and thus, giving the teachers and all their students an approximately two hours to prepare themselves and do the final rehearsal of their stage performances.

After finishing the materials he will be teaching for today’s lessons, Akihito immediately runs towards his class, obviously has long neglected his students since he is such a snail in doing theoretical tasks. When he slides the wooden floor, he is defiantly welcomed with many pairs of big, rounded, glossy eyes—all looked nervous—and they are straight looking at him. There is silence that passes between the blond teacher and his students and it is wisely torn by the sudden whine a girl let out. Following her whine, the other students follow as well; the nerve-wrecking nervousness seems to have swallowed the entire children.

The scene jolts Akihito into action. At that, his feet walk rather hastily but surely as he examines all the students, face red with tears and mucus smearing down their little noses. “Guys, what happened?” the blond teacher asks rather hastily.

“They are nervous, Sensei,” Hana came from the back, making her way across the sea of wailing kids, “They are going to perform today of course they will be nervous it makes them crying.”

The fact that Hana will also perform today in the same stage performance as the rest of the crying student and she doesn’t even cry about it leaves him wondering, but Akihito wisely leaves it at that. Inhaling a rather large amount of breath, Akihito claps his hands twice, effectively gathering all attention to him. Like on silent command, all of the children stop their wails and look at him.

“Listen,” Akihito starts, his hazel eyes look sharp and intense, making him looking more serious than ever, “I have seen you guys practiced so many times before. I have seen all the failures, and all the successes, but other than those, I can also see the hard work that you guys put on those practices,” he puts both hands on the desk where he stands behind of and continues, “Honestly, you guys are great. Sensei believes that with the amount of work you guys put on during those practices, this stage performance of ours will succeed, I’m sure of it! The only thing that could probably make us fail is fear, or nervousness that you guys are feeling right now. So…”

“Throw that nervousness away, and be confident! Be brave! We can do this!” he ends.

The whole class cheers and it’s kind of surprising when it makes Hana cheers too.

After that, all of the children dissipate, going on in their own group to rehearse their dialogues. The evil queen groups up with the magic mirror, the seven dwarves create their own group, and so on, leaving Akihito alone as the prince and Hana, as princess Snow White. At first, Hana is alone beside the window, holding onto her own Snow White story book as she mouths her dialogue softly to herself. Akihito sees that, and immediately decides to approach them, mainly because he wants to practice with her as well.

He slowly strides towards her, and with a soft tap, alerting her of his presence, which she responds quiet well with a jolt through her body and a reflexive movement of jerking away from his touch. Akihito tries not to get offended by that and moves to sit on the seat in front of her instead, dragging the chair’s feet slowly to be closer to her. Hana’s eyes don’t leave him as he approaches her, her stance ready as if she is under his attack.

Seeing that, Akihito let out a chuckle, before dropping a palm on top of his hair, ruffling the silky black hair softly before speaking up, “Relax, Hana – chan. I only come here to practice with you, isn’t that ok?”

The little girl runs her eyes to one side as she responds, “Well… that’s fine, I guess,” her eyes move back to look him in the eye, “Sensei only appears on the back of the show right?”

“You could say that…” Akihito looks at his own mini notes containing his dialogue, “I only have to show up when the seven dwarfs put you in a box. And from there on I just have to speak off a few words before the ending scene comes, right?”

Hana only nods, but doesn’t seem to want to mutter any kind of words to reply the older man. Seconds tick by and heavy silence falls onto them, not only because the blond doesn’t know what more things to discuss, it is also supported by the fact that instead of talking to him, Hana is more interested in feigning ignorance.

Realizing that, Akihito only let out a sigh, which is too soft for the little girl to catch on. After several moments pass and there is still no conversation going around them, the teacher slowly let down his dialogue and for the umpteenth time raise his eyes to lock with the student’s, which is currently not focused on him right now.

The blond opens his mouth, only to close it, like a fish gaping for water. Midnight thoughts come haunting him once again and it makes him debating whether to bring it up or not with himself. He truly, really wants to know, and the easiest, safest way of finding her out is through her herself, with her own will and permission of course.

“Hana,” he starts, sounding more hesitant than he usually is that it makes Hana raises her head in concern, her rounded eyes searching for his, “who’s coming for today…?”, he asks, careful with each words that come out of his mouth, “I—I mean—to this event?”

Akihito expects a fit of anger, like, kid’s anger. Well, as insensitive as a kid could be, she should be sensitive if it comes to her parents, right? So, he reflexively closes his eyes and readies himself for the yells he deserves… only, it never comes.

Lifting up his eyelids, the image of a silent, sitting Hana comes to view, the blur that is caused by his eye liquid slowly clearing and refocusing on her. It is kind of surprising for him when she looks at him with straight, emotionless eyes; as if the topic he brought up doesn’t affect her at all. Her eyes stay with him only for a minute, before quickly going on her story book which is wide opened and currently on the middle of the climax of the story, “One of my uncles will probably come. But I don’t know which one.”

The blond teacher lets out a breath he has unconsciously held in for awhile through that tiny conversation they had. _Probably, huh?_ That uncertain word pops up in his head, and suddenly the image of a harmonize family that backs Hana up disappears into the thin air.

 

* * *

  

It is a quarter passes ten when the school is finally swarmed by parents. The first schedule of that day is the annual parents’ class observation. In here, the students will attend their daily class while their respective parents will observe their development from the back of the class. This is actually an important moment for both the parents and their children, for they could learn more about their children’s educational capabilities and therefore could support them at home as well.

Akihito is a nervous wreck; he can judge it simply by looking at his own reflection at the bathroom’s mirror. His face flushes red from the heat his body produces and droplets of sweat are visible forming on his forehead. This is his first time—ever—working as a teacher and therefore, also his first time performing his teaching method in front of the parents.

He holds the teaching material tight, as if it is his only lifeline. The more he looks at his scribbled handwritings, the more nervous he becomes, so he decides to just set it aside and cools his face down with running water instead.

“It’s ok, you’re cool and awesome and the parents will love you Aki!” he encourages himself as slaps his cheeks twice, as if to complete his determination.

The class starts soon after that, and Akihito surprises himself at how steady and calm he brings his own class to end. Everything starts and ends well; the students are interactive and active in class, and the parents seem to be happy and proud looking at their children in the class. The teacher could only sigh contentedly then, as he ends the class.

The students are only given a 10 minute break to talk to their parents before going back to their own respective classes to prepare for their classes’ stage performances. Akihito is about to go towards the teacher’s room to put his teaching materials down first but he is suddenly stopped when he sees Hana. Amongst the sea of people that flood the corridor, Hana stands there alone, her eyes empty but doesn’t look like they are searching for her own… well, respective guardians.

Something strikes him right at his heart and his feet immediately move into action, his body slowly bending low to match Hana’s height. It is seconds later when Akihito finds himself staring back onto those emotionless eyes again, eyes apparently focused on him the moment he crouched to talk to her, “Hana – chan, are you alone?”, the girl nods weakly, and it only worries the teacher more, “Would you like to accompany me? I want to go to the teacher’s room to get some things.”

It is as if a magic spell has bound her when she follows willingly, her small hand is held in the strong palm of her teacher’s. The blond paces his walk on instinct, as if letting the little girl in that crowd could suffocate or harm her.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the office, and Hana wisely chooses to wait outside. Akihito promises to be fast, and fast he is as he comes seconds later to catch on his female student. The blond teacher finally decides to separate themselves from the crowd and chooses to sit in the waiting room instead. He helps Hana sit first before finally letting himself fall on the seat next to her, the hold he has on her hand doesn’t look that interested to let go.

The sight in front of them seems to move in slow-motion. Smiles and laughter emerge in the thin air, cheers and happy voices surrounding the whole crowd. It is when there is a kid hugging his mother in front of them does she tighten up her hold on his hand, and Akihito’s hazel eyes and sharp senses receive that signal rather precisely.

_There must be something going on with the kid’s family._

They stay silent for a little while, and to his surprise, the black-haired girl opens up the conversation, “My uncle doesn’t seem to be able to come today after all.”

Akihito replies, softly, “Do you have any idea why?”

She nods, “He is very busy, my other uncles also. I have so many uncles, but they are all busy,” she rambles on, her hand clenching even tighter, “Last night one of my uncles promise me he will come,” Akihito runs a thumb along her tiny hand as she continues, “Seems like he is busy as usual in the office.”

“Not like I hope any of them will come, anyway.” her voice obviously betrays her words as it cracks in a muffled whine, and it pains the blond to hear it from her.

She averts her eyes as he tries to look at her, and he understands that gesture completely. Springing up a smile, he says, “Would you come with me to grab some sweets later?”

The word ‘sweets’ seems to click something inside her because she immediately looks back at him at this; her glossy eyes glittered with the tears that are yet to fall. The confusion is clearly drawn on her face and he immediately feels the need to continue, “You know… I heard there is this new booth selling crepes. Have you ever tasted crepes?”

She shook her head slowly, but she looks eager to know more, “I tell you, it’s the best thing in the world! It has a lot of flavors! My favorite is the Nutella one and I should tell you, I could go buy five of those and I’m sure I won’t get sick of it!” he locks eyes with her for the umpteenth time that day before speaking warmly, “So, would you like to? After school?” he prompts.

He is sure that his head isn’t currently playing with his eyes but an image of a smiling Hana flashed in front of him. It is a tiny smile, barely visible, and also barely a minute, but the feelings it tries to show is conveyed completely.

After that, they stay in silence again, until the crowd dissipates and the students come back to their respective classes, while the parents are told to wait in the main hall.

 

* * *

 

 

It is almost their turn to perform, and the nervousness seems to come back to claim at the children’s wavering hearts. All of them don’t cry anymore, no, but it is obvious that they are frustrated about how their show would end up; would they make no mistake? Will the parents be proud and like the performance? Those high demands seem to choke them on the neck.

Akihito watches his students as they pace back and forth, unable to stay calm and claim their seats like they are told to (not that Akihito insisted it, for he knows how it feels like to be on the edge). The class before them performs a classical story of the Beauty and the Beast, which has the boy acting as the Beast wear this hideous looking bear costume that serves as a cute humor for the parents to watch them.

It feels like decade for the performance to end, and when it does, Akihito immediately gathers all of his students to assemble surrounding him. He crouches low enough to be in the same eye-level as the children and puts his arms around them, embracing as many students as his hands could possibly reach.

“Remember guys,” Akihito starts, trying his best to not sound wavering and hesitant to his students’ ears, “believe in yourself. We can do this. I will be in the same stage as yours and therefore there’s no need to be scared or nervous. Understand?”

The nods he gets as a respond is enough for him. He hugs the kids once before dismissing his small army. He knows his students are going to nail the show.

From the corner of his eyes he catches a movement, and it doesn’t take long for him to realize that it is Hana who’s currently peeking through the heavy curtain towards the audience. Her eyes look like they are searching for something, and Akihito knows immediately what they are searching for. Wisely, he takes slow steps towards his little princess and pats at her shoulder, jolting her a bit and making her turns around to see who her offender is.

Hana looks up only to meet the face of her blond teacher. They just stare at each other for awhile before Akihito lets out a wide, warm smile for her. Hana doesn’t reply him the same and Akihito doesn’t expect her to.

The performance begins. The curtains open up to the scene of the evil queen asking the magic mirror who the fairest woman in the land is. Akihito is quiet proud seeing the one behind the magic mirror, Haru - kun. He knows just how hard the little boy trained for this. Good grief he masters his role within three days.

Hana comes out then, acting as if she is running towards the field and enjoying the breeze of the outside world. Akihito watches at how her act could catch all eyes of the audiences, how amazing and worth-believing her act on the stage is. She really does a great job.

It is then the scene where the hunter comes out from the backstage and chases after poor Snow White.

Akihito keeps on observing the parents, sees how they react towards his class’ mini stage performance. He lets out a contented sigh when they enjoy the show.

It is when it is nearing his come out does the door open from the back. The children halt their actions as the door opens slowly; revealing a silhouette of a man whose face is still unknown. The parents also take their time to turn around to witness the newcomer, kind of curious about who’s late for the performance. Everything seems to move at slow motion when Akihito raises his head to see, and it only takes him less than a minute to recognize who the newcomer is.

One by one features is revealed as the man lets himself in; black jet hair gelled backwards, a strong-built shoulders covered in a three-piece suit, a strong chiseled jaw, a well-sculptured nose, and a pair of mesmerizing golden eyes that look sharper than any hawk.

Akihito’s hazel eyes widen in surprise, pupils dilating into slits as his brain registers the name for him to know.

Asami Ryuichi.

The alarm in his head goes off, and he finds himself panicking in his own spot. _Why is he here?! Don’t tell me he is a parent of one of these kids_? Akihito shouts internally, his eyes search frantically for any kid who resembles him. None, no one resembles him. _Why is he here then!?_

Like bad luck, it is time for him to go out, so go out he does.

Akihito strides towards the stage, his knuckles clench and unclench beside him as he nears the sleeping Snow White.

_Don’t worry Aki. You only see him when you are wearing a wig and therefore there is only little chance of him recognizing you_ , he chants in his head, over and over like a silent prayer.

Before him stands his own students, who are dressed as the seven dwarfs they are acting as. He slowly approaches them before opening up his mouth to talk out his dialogue, “What is happening here, oh my fellow dwarfs?”, he bends a little low to pat the kids on the back, whilst closing in the distance between him and the supposedly sleeping princess, “what makes you wail in tears?”

_Please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me please don’t recognize me_

He crouches then, taking a look at Hana who’s closing her eyes soundly as if she’s sleeping. “Oh, my beautiful princess, whose lips red as rose, whose hair black as ebony, and whose skin white as snow, what makes you close both of your pretty eyes to shield you away from the life you are living in?”

_The final scene. Yep,_ he talks in his head. _Surely Hana knows this. Surely she knows this._

He put both of his hands behind her head and her knees to slowly raise her from the box that serves as her glass coffin, showing her sleeping body to the audience. Akihito is contemplating about how to end the show, but he needs to end this now because he gets this intuition that Asami is currently looking at them. After the longest time of thinking, Akihito wisely chooses to put her in her chest and hugs her, patting her back twice like waking up a child from her nap. The teacher wisely whispers the word ‘wake up’ directly to her ear, and wake up she does.

The Snow White slowly opens up both of her eyes and there they stare at each other, for how long they don’t really know. What they surely know is the fact that by that scene they just did, there goes the end of the stage performance, accompanied by the loud claps and cheers from the parents about how well their performance went on from the beginning.

Akihito puts Hana down and calls all the remaining kids in the backstage. Before the curtains close them for good, the teacher leads the students to bow deeply, conveying the silent message of thank you as their figures slowly disappear behind the closing curtains.

 

* * *

 

 

It is exactly two o’clock when the bell rings, indicating that the event of the day has ended as scheduled. Most of the students immediately go home with their parents, excluding Hana, who is currently walking towards her teacher.

Akihito is cleaning up the costumes the kids just used at the stage performance earlier when Hana pokes his back twice, successfully earning his attention. The blond teacher immediately turns around and sports himself a smile, “yes?”

“You are buying me a crepe today, right?” Hana prompts, reminding him of his promise earlier that day, “if so, I am going to talk to my uncle first for his permission.”

“Oh, he came?” Akihito stands up then, brushing off invisible dust in his hands as he does so, “Sure, I will wait here.”

The girl leaves him afterwards, leading her tiny feet out of the classroom and towards the corridor which is kind of empty by then. Akihito runs his eyes to follow her, wanting to find out just who her guardian is. He drags his feet towards the door then, and it takes him by surprise to see the figure who Hana is currently talking to right now.

_Asami… Asami Ryuichi is her uncle?!_

He instinctively hides behind the door, his heart hammers below his rib cage so hard he thinks it’s going to burst. He takes several deep breathes to calm himself, and he is grateful that it’s somehow effective, until a small hand suddenly grabs at the lower hem of his shirt and jolts his heartbeat back again to life.

His eyes meet his offender’s, who is actually Hana. She opens her mouth to speak, “Uncle says he wants to talk to you.”

_I’m dead_.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, it's been a long time since the last update right? Hontou ni gomenasai:(  
> It takes me a long time to actually pick up the original story and therefore continues it  
> I hope you could still cope up with my long updates, but once again, I'm sorry;-;  
> I do not own the Finder Series


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

The walk towards the end of the corridor is so heavy. Akihito doesn’t know if it’s because of his feet, the gravity force that pulls him onto one spot, or the fact that he is rather reluctant to do it. Actually, he puts his best bet on the latter.

How can he not be reluctant? After all, he is currently walking—accidentally baring himself—towards the man who probably knows his work as a stripper, Asami Ryuichi. The blond doesn’t really know the man that well to guess what his next move is once he knows that the stripper that works in the club that he frequents into is also his niece’s teacher. _Hell, he could report this to the principal if he thinks I give off a bad influence towards the students!_

But on side note, Akihito doesn’t think he is that kind of guy, honestly. Especially since he doesn’t look that disgusted by the stripper that serves him every night in the club. _Maybe he would understand my reasons for working at the club, judging by the way he seems to be curious with me and all…_ Akihito starts to reason with himself, _and with his understanding, I might not lose this kindergarten job!_

_But that’s not the most important thing to do here_ , Akihito adds, _I will put the reasoning and understanding part as plan B. For plan A, I think I have to cover up my stripper job. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize me… and maybe there will be no need for me to—_

“Sensei!” Hana calls, for the umpteenth times it seems judging by the way she lets out a huff and the color red blooms on her chubby cheeks. She tugs the lower hem of his shirt rather harshly and that earns a complete attention of his long dazed-off teacher.

Akihito looks down and immediately meets with the over-exerted Hana beside him. The little girl adds, “What’s wrong? Here is my uncle.” At that, Akihito raises his head to see, and he immediately regrets that action because once his hazel eyes runs up, they are defiantly caught by two, hot and mesmerizing golden eyes.

He has to admit, Asami still looks super handsome no matter how often he takes a look at him. His face might put any artists to shame, for there is probably no single masterpiece that could match his perfectly sculptured, shaped face. His sharp golden eyes stare straight towards his hazel ones, and suddenly Akihito feels it is rather hard to hold his knees to stand on a perfect stance in front of him.

“So…” Asami starts, his voice rolling out smoothly from his tongue like the most delicious honey, “what do I call you, Sensei?”

Feeling that he is mentioned, Akihito immediately lets his upper body fall into a form of bowing before calling out his name rather loudly, “Uh… it’s Takaba, Sir!”

Hana looks at her teacher weirdly, and she defiantly raises her head to exchange looks to her uncle. The older man looks at Hana for a moment, before running his vision towards his talking partner. Asami chuckles at him, “It’s okay, Takaba – Sensei. Raise your head,” he prompts, and the blond immediately does what he is told to do.

When his head is raised, he is rather surprised to find the handsome face is lunged in front of him, perhaps too close for comfort. He finds his face heats up as the lips that are so close to the tip of his nose speaks, “and I am Asami Ryuichi. It is nice to meet you, Sensei.” At that, the older man pulls his face back so that he is standing perfectly, leaving Akihito in an awkward bowing position alone before he pulls his body back to be eyed to eye with the older man.

Silence falls onto them after that and Akihito honestly needs to swallow several times to keep his throat from drying itself out. Asami stares at him again, now running his pupils from the top of his hair to the tip of his toes. Akihito is being observed, that he is sure, judging by the fact that the older man is being too opened while doing it. Akihito promptly closes his eyes and counts from one to ten, before opening them up again and realizes—too late for him to consider—that the man has done his inspection and now is eyeing him straight on the face. The blond could only hide his embarrassment by lowering down his face, which is kind of pointless because the color of crimson red has vastly reached the tip of his ears.

Silently, Asami smirks at that, “I heard Hana wants to go for a walk with you?”

“Y—yes, sir,” the teacher answers softly, having rather enough about embarrassing himself further.

“Then I need your number that I can contact,” when Akihito throws him a confused face, the older man adds, “you know, just in case. And you should also call me when you are finished and therefore you also need my number. Is that ok?”

Several things are swimming inside his head it makes him a little bit dizzy when he subconsciously pulls out his cell phone from his pocket to exchange phone numbers with the man he has decided to not be closer than it already is. Asami inputs his number then, miscalling him, and thus the number exchanging is complete before he even realizes it.

A minute after that, Asami excuses himself, saying that he has some paperwork that needs to be done therefore leaving his niece in the blond teacher’s complete care. Akihito watches him as he walks, and he kind of hating himself when he thinks Asami is that cool as he sees his back disappearing within the evening light.

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito sighs for the umpteenth time as he locks his locker lazily. Now full of make-up and heavy with wig, the blond stripper walks across the staff’s room in his body-fitting sheath, accompanied by the classic tap-tap sounds that come from his 3-inches stilettos. With many practices and experiences in the past, he has to admit that he seems to have mastered the art of cross-dressing, even if he is ashamed to.

With much effort, he staggers his way towards the bar—despite the knowing ache the shoes cause that is currently eating its way up his poor feet—where he sees his friend hanging at. Kanata – san looks pretty as usual in her night mini dress as she sips on a drink, her eyes look at the glass rather longingly before finally looking up to discover her blond friend walking towards her.

“Aki – chii~!” she calls, her breathe comes out sultry and thick with alcohol. She opens up both arms to welcome her friend and when he arrives, she immediately catches him in a tight hug. Akihito struggles to free himself and once he does, it takes him a moment to finally realize that the brunette is kind of drunk, or maybe completely drunk, he is not sure himself.

He throws a silent question towards the bartender but the only reply he gets is the typical shake of the head that he knows surely doesn’t mean good news. Placing himself on the rounded seat beside her, he puts his hand on her chin and pulls it upward, so that he could inspect her condition fully, “Kanata – san? What happened?”

Surprisingly, the woman slaps his hand away from her face and waves it in front of his, telling him the gesture of ‘nah I’m fine you don’t have to worry about it’. But when Akihito’s face indicates that he doesn’t understand, the female stripper finally voices it out, “As you can see, I’m fine~” she whips around so suddenly it catches Akihito off-guard to grab a glass of cocktail that has apparently been there near her, “this cocktail does taste good!”

“Kanata – san,” Akihito calls out as he lets out a sigh, putting his hand on his temple as if seeing his friend like that is giving him a massive headache, “I know you like alcohol but never have I seen you drunk before,” he looks straight at his friend, “just what—wait, hold on!”

Glimpses of purplish bruises on both of her wrists are caught through his sharp hazel eyes. Panicking, he abruptly pulls one of her hands to be near his eyes and inspects it. Looks like the bruises has lasted for some quiet time now, “what’s with this bruise? Where did you get these? Seriously, what happened?”, he throws off questions hastily, frustrated by the fact that even though she is his only friend here he doesn’t even know what has happened to her this entire time.

Once again, she pulls her hand away from her friend, as if she is hiding something, before speaking out softly, “You always like to ask several questions at once, don’t you?”, she hiccups once, before continuing, “I’m fine, Aki. There’s no need to worry about me. I’m a strong woman, remember?”

She is about to raise her glass to her glossy lips to drink in the cocktail once again before a hand stops her, a hand that belongs to the blond stripper beside her. Though slightly unfocused, the angry face of Akihito is visible in her eyes, and she immediately lowers down the glass in fear of his wrath. Akihito takes the glass off of her hold and puts it slowly on the long table, before slowly looking back at her and says, “Look,” he puts both hands on top of her hands as he adds, “I know you are strong and all, but you are still a woman, Kanata – san,”

“As your guy friend I have to worry about you, especially since you are acting strange like this. I won’t push you to tell me about what happened if you don’t want to but please,” he sticks his forehead on hers, closing his eyes as he continues, “please be honest to me and tell me if something really did happen and bothers you. I will help you anyway I can, I promise.” at that, Akihito lets go of her, leaving her looking kind of dazed and in a verge of tears.

Kanata looks away for a moment and speaks, “I’m terribly sorry, Aki. I just can’t—“, her voice wavered, and she immediately hunched her shoulders forward to hold in the wails that Akihito believes has welled up inside her, “it’s complicated. I can’t tell you, um…” she wipes off her unshed tears before whipping her head back to face him, “can we… talk about something else?”

It shakes Akihito a little when he sees the broken expression she has on her faces but he tries to look like he is not affected by it, of course for the sake of her. He straightens up his sitting position and puts his hand on the table, tapping it softly with his fingers as he responds, “Right, uh…”

He ponders about the topic, and feels really grateful when something comes up in his mind, “Oh! Do you remember the student that I told you about?”

Apparently, Kanata looks interested enough for the conversation to develop even further, “Um… the one who said her parents aren’t coming to see her on Parents’ Meeting Day?” a realization hit her in the head when she remembers that the mentioned day is actually today, “Oh yeah, what happened to her? Did her parents come in the end?”

“Well, I don’t know about her parents but the one that came to see her today at school is her uncle,” he pauses, inhaling  a deep breath before continuing, “and I think you wouldn’t believe this but her uncle appears to be—“

“Akira!” a voice calls him, and he immediately halts what he was going to say as he whips his head towards the source of voice, turns out to be another female stripper. _Thank God, I have enough of Sudou calling me…_ “A patron requests for you. He is in the usual booth, ok?”, and off she goes, disappearing in the natural dimmed light of the room.

A shiver suddenly runs up his spine as he receives the news. The usual booth apparently appears to be the super VIP room that could only be reserved by a super important person himself. Letting out a sheepish sigh, his brain immediately registers the name of his patron. _Of course it would be him_ , he silently ranted.

Turning his head to spare off a goodbye, he is rather welcomed by a smug face of his female friend. Kanata puts on her widest smirk before turning her chair around to fetch her abandoned cocktail as she spoke, “good luck serving your soon-to-be lover~”

At that, Akihito blushes, before stomping his way off towards his destined booth. He doesn’t know since when that woman has referred Asami Ryuichi as his soon-to-be lover. _Damn girls and their wild fantasies._

 

* * *

 

 

“You know,” the deep, baritone voice that has become fairly familiar to him right now rings throughout the empty room, jolting him out of the silent treatment the older man has given him since the moment he has finished pouring him his usual drink, “I met someone today.”

Sensing an unwanted topic being brought, Akihito forces himself to act natural, and talks as if he doesn’t know a thing, “Oh yeah?”

Asami nods, swaying the tumbler he has on his hand slightly to shake the million dollar golden liquid that’s contained in it, “I don’t know if it has become a habit of meeting you or what, but this person reminds me of you,” he lets his eyes wander to his companion, catching Akihito off-guard for a second.

The blond lets his throat contracts in the act of swallowing before replying, “Is that so?” he lowers down his gaze, “I am flattered.”

“Oh, don’t be,” the older man responds almost immediately, setting the alarm in Akihito’s head off against his will. Asami sips on his drink just a tiny bit before continuing what he has left off, “He is kind of awkward in my opinion, and for some reason, he seems to get scared of me easily, like I could know if he is hiding something from me or something like that,” he eyes Akihito throughout his whole speech, “On the other side, he also gets embarrassed too easily I simply cannot understand why.”

Akihito only looks at his lap as he holds in the blush he is sure coming on in a second as those words rolled off the man’s tongue and hits him right in his nervous system. Asami has just stated that he is awkward, frightened of him, and shy to top it up and he couldn’t be more embarrassed than he already is at the moment.

Asami watches as the color red consumes the blond’s whole face. He watches as it starts from his cheekbones and crawls its way up towards the tips of his ears, exactly reminding him of someone. He smirks, “Why are you embarrassed?”

Akihito lets out a yelp before looking at him straight in the eye again. His brain rakes for understandable reasons he could give towards him, “B—because you said that he kinds of reminding you of me and therefore,” he pouts, “it feels like you’re saying all of those to me.” _It’s exactly because of what you called me!_

Asami lets out a chuckle, before putting out his hand to caress the stripper on his cheek, “But I think it’s kind of adorable, you know? That awkwardness,” at that, Akihito blushes even further, staring at the man’s whole face as his mouth moves again to speak, “and I’m not saying that just to make you feel better.”

The calloused fingers that touch his overheated cheek feel so good he slowly leans into it, lowering down his eyelids ever so slowly to relish in the feels he somehow longs so much. It is seconds later when he realizes what he is doing, and reflexively, he backs away from the touch, leaving the comforting palm of his patron.

They stare wide eyed towards each other for awhile, before Akihito breaks away from the tensed eye contact. Hesitantly yet softly, he rambles off, “I… I’m sorry, Sir I… I don’t know what I’m doing—“

Akihito’s words are cut off abruptly by the hand that suddenly grabs onto his slender arm, jolting him out of his ramblings. He is seconds too late to realize what is happening when the hand suddenly pulls him towards his offender, right towards the lap of the man he is somehow so shy to look at.

The blond is already trapped in the man’s hold before he even realized it; his legs spread wide enough to straddle him, both of his hands rested on the man’s broad shoulder, and what makes his situation even more worse is the man’s hands that circle around his waist so sensually it feels impossible for him to move away from there. Everything seems like a dream as he faces Asami below him, his nose nearly touching him and his breath feels warm and moist against his skin.

It feels unbearably hot between them, and it is kind of tempting to wet his lips, so he does. Akihito watches as those golden orbs that stare back at him turn darker within seconds; their pupils dilate into slits as Asami stares into the tempting pink tongue that pokes out from his lips to wet them.

It feels like years before Asami opens out his mouth, and it unknowingly soothes him down to the core when that baritone voice rings again, now louder than before as its source is now closer than before, “Do you want to know something?”

Subconsciously, Akihito lets his eyes wander to see the lips that move below him, suddenly recalling the unrecalled event of him accidentally kissing the older man, “What is it?”, he lets out, feeling that their faces are inching closer as the seconds tick away.

Unexpectedly, Asami lungs forward and position his mouth to be beside his ear. He speaks, “On the night when you were drunk,” he chuckles a little, leaving a tingle of pleasant shiver running through the blond’s spine, “I lied about you kissing me.”

“What?” Akihito jerks away, but not too far to fall thanks to the hands that keep him in place. His hazel eyes widen up in disbelief before his jaw drops open, letting out a breath before responding, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Asami smirks, as he eases out the hold he has on the blond, “it seems fun to play with your awkwardness. I’m so sorry.”

Akihito lets his body slumps forward as he murmurs a “ugh, I hate you” unconsciously. It takes him a minute to finally realize what he just said and therefore he looks back up, only to be welcomed by the smirk that just grows to be smugger than before.

Asami tightens up the hold once again, before saying, “What, you hate me now just because we didn’t kiss?”

That makes him blush even further (if that is even possible though) than before. Akihito immediately opens up his mouth to respond, “No—I didn’t mean—I mean—why would I—umm… No, I mean—“

“It’s good to talk so much like that, you know to keep your patron company, but,” Asami puts one palm behind the blond’s neck and gently sways his body down towards the sofa, putting the slender body to lay on his back as he hovers over him like the panther he is, “I think it is also nice to shut that cute pretty mouth once in awhile.” and at that, he puts his mouth over those lips.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who decides to be productive this week? LOL  
> I hope you enjoy this!  
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

_This cannot be happening._

It is quiet surprising even for him when he finds himself lying on his back with his black-haired patron hovering over him with one hand behind his neck and the other behind his waist, as if protecting him from the sudden fall. What’s more is the fact that the older man is currently sticking his lips right on top of his, making the situation grows to be more and more absurd with each seconds that pass away.

Akihito finds his hands trapped between his and Asami’s body, therefore decreasing his chances of breaking away from the inhuman hold the older man has on him. He closes his eyes as the pair of lips that attacked him keeps its insistence; it is actually getting harder to breathe. The empty blackness behind his closed eyelids that prevents any more images to be registered in his brain forces him to concentrate on the one thing that he truly feels at the moment—the sensation those lips left on his own during its ministrations.

He feels rather thankful when Asami lifts his head up a little, separating their mouths from their ‘mini rendezvous’ earlier. Akihito opens his hazel eyes slowly, in need of some light adjustments, only to be welcomed by the smug smirk the man has plastered under his nose. Rather perfectly and handsomely, Asami draws an eyebrow up and inspects his face carefully, as if he just finds something strange and wonderful at the same time. As always, the color of a lovely red rose blooms on his cheekbones—from the lack of oxygen or embarrassment he doesn’t really know himself. He can’t even understand the functioning of his own body anymore.

Surprisingly, Asami pulls the hand that was behind his neck and slowly puts it on the blond’s face, seemingly wanting to brush the strands of wig away to clear his face clean. He lets his golden eyes roam his face for a little longer vastly, “So,” he starts, “do you still hate me now?”

“Wha—“, Akihito lets out a breath he has been holding for some quiet time now before actually focusing all of his senses towards his surroundings. He tries too hard not to think about the warm tingles that dance on his lips thanks to the man above him as he speaks, silently hoping that what comes out of his mouth next is rational enough for him, “What are you doing? Isn’t touching the stripper is not allowed?”

“Oh, really?” at that, Asami inches his face closer than before, leaving a centimeter left between their mouths. With so much ease, he counters, “but what if the stripper himself allows the patron to touch him?”

“What?!” the blond protests, “I—“

Akihito is once again cut off by Asami, who effectively seals his mouth shut with his own. The blond is kind of surprised when something wets his lips, and it is seconds later when he realized that Asami has let out his tongue, making the situation for him worse than before. Once again, he closes his eyes sharp as the tongue keeps on probing onto his lips, trying to pry it open with its insistence. Akihito tries to think about other things, like his students, butterflies, cameras, food, or basically anything that could take his mind off from his situation right now so he wouldn’t succumb to him.

The walls he has built around his determination are slowly crumbling down when he feels a hand suddenly creeps onto his thighs, playfully sliding in and out of the skirt of his sheath as if the man wants to tease him (which he most likely does). Akihito holds his breath then, trying to concentrate on other things rather than the hot sensation on his lips and on his thighs.

The last layer of his self-defense finally collapses when Asami’s calloused fingers touch the inner side of his thighs, making his mouth opens in a gasp as a pleasurable tingles shoot through his spine. The older man takes the moment into his full advantage by immediately shoving his tongue down the blond’s mouth, tasting the distinct flavor of orange juice that somehow is there.

Asami’s hands don’t stop there. While his tongue works on Akihito’s mouth, his hands crawl deeper into his pelvis region, slowly feeling the smooth clothe of his underpants. His sadistic part of mind awakens and he suddenly has this strong urge to wreck the stripper below him.

On the other hand, Akihito feels like he is dying. His face—and what’s more, his whole body—is hot, too hot for comfort, and his heart beats frantically inside chest it is starting to hurt. Being sealed on the mouth, it is also getting harder to breathe, especially since in this kind of action his lungs basically demand for more air to breathe in. He doesn’t really understand biology, but what is happening right now is not good for his health, and this somehow has to end.

Just as he is about to move his hands to at least push the man away, Asami himself suddenly takes the gentle action of pulling away, leaving Akihito breathless for a minute. He watches as his victim becomes a wreck below him; his face flushed, his lips plumped, and his eyes watered—just like the way he wants him to be. Akihito blooms beautifully below him and he suddenly has this ugly need to wreck him even more. But fortunately, he still has his rational mind stuck with him and therefore, he genuinely pulls completely away, going back to his original seat as the blond catches his breath.

After seconds of calming his erratic breath down, Akihito sits back up, his hands reflexively wipes the unshed tears in his eyes but most of all, covers his angry red, plump lips as if it is something obscene to be looked at. His hazel eyes slowly focus on the figure in front of him, and it is against his will when his body backs away from him.

Seeing the reflex the stripper shows him, Asami only leaves a chuckle, before standing up, pulling one of his cigarettes from its confinement and lit it up. Placing it between his lips, he says, “It is a pleasure to know more about you, Akira. But, unfortunately, I have to go now. And the time is up as well,” at that, Akihito checks the digital clock on the wall and he is suddenly embarrassed. He is too into protecting himself he even forgets about the time.

The older man gently opens up the door, but before he walks out, he adds, “and I think you should take care of _that_ before going on with your work.” and after that, he walks out of the room, disappearing shortly after.

Akihito is still dazed when the man left, moreover contemplating on what _‘that’_ is. He searches around himself, and when he finds _‘that’_ , he immediately covers his whole face in an extreme mortification.

_I’m erected._

 

* * *

 

It is nearly one o’clock in the morning when Asami swipes the card through the lock of his home and pushes the door open to let himself in. It is kind of surprising and irritating as well when the familiar sound from the television rings through the air, indicating that someone that lives there other than him is still up and awake, watching a replay of cartoons judging by the theme song that blasts through the speakers. The businessman gently changes his shoes to his house slippers and walks further inside, trying his best to not make a sound. Nearing the long sofa, his sharp golden eyes discover a mop of black hair popping from the edge of the sofa, softly humming the song through her pretty mouth.

“Hana,” Asami calls; successfully jolting the small figure on the sofa, “It’s past midnight. Why aren’t you in bed?”

The little girl immediately stands up, her little feet bouncing a bit on the sofa. She turns around perfectly to face her intruder and she immediately regrets it. Her uncle is definitely unamused. “I can’t sleep.” she responds weakly, averting her eyes as she does so.

“Why?” Asami asks as he slowly walks around to sit on the sofa, pulling his niece along as he falls onto the sofa, “why can’t you sleep?” he adds.

“Bad dreams.” she answers meekly, letting her head falls onto her uncle’s chest. It is broad, and warm as well, and somehow it calms her whenever she feels unsecure or frightened, not that she will admit it out loud.

Asami lets out a long drag of sigh before dropping a big palm on the girl’s head, stroking the smooth hair softly as he tries to pick up another topic, “How’s the walk with Takaba – sensei?”

At that, he feels the head beneath his palm perks up, “He is surprisingly… fine, I guess.”

“What is _‘fine’_ like?” Asami tries not to snort, and takes his niece seriously but it’s kind of funny to hear Hana complementing some stranger she just knows from school.

Hana takes a moment to think, “Umm… Aki – sensei is kind of fun. He bought me two crepes just because I wanted to and we even walked to the nearest library just to read some books,” she tries to look up, and when her eyes meet her uncle’s, she adds, “he is not that annoying like the first time I think of him.”

“Do you like him?” the older man asks, now running a thumb on one of her little hands as it is always successful to make her sleepy.

She nods her head, whether from agreeing or from the sleepiness Asami couldn’t figure. But when she speaks again, he knows she is agreeing, “I guess I like him,” before Asami could answer, she adds rather hastily, “a little.”

Asami lets out a heartfelt chuckle before silently grabbing the remote to turn off the television. He guesses it is now the right time for the little princess to sleep as she doesn’t even protest when her favorite cartoon is forcefully turned off. The older man pries off of Hana carefully before gently pulling her small body into his hold, finding just the right angle for her to be comfortable in his embrace before slowly lifting her up, intending to walk her to her bedroom.

She is silent throughout the whole process and therefore Asami doesn’t find any problem bringing her to her room, turning on one light to make the room dimmed enough to not hurt her fragile eyes. His long strides eat up all the distance from the door to the bed and it doesn’t take long for Hana to finally arrive on her warm, fluffy bed.

“You should sleep,” Asami says, before gently pulling a duvet to cover up her smaller body and pets her on the head, urging her sleepiness to claim her soon, “you have school tomorrow. You want to meet Aki – sensei again, right?”

She subconsciously nods. The older man smiles before her as he watches her slowly falling asleep; her long eyelashes kiss her soft, chubby cheeks. Soon, she departs into dreamland, about what, Asami doesn’t know. He just hopes no nightmare intrudes his niece’s sleep again. The little girl needs a rest.

When he is sure Hana is asleep, Asami walks away from the bed swiftly and silently, afraid to wake her up. He watches the figure of his small niece through his back once again, and it is against his will when a small smile claims his mouth. After that, he gently closes the door behind him.

As he walks back towards his room, his mind suddenly wanders to the two persons he especially met today. _Two persons, one personality_. He chuckles a bit as he enters his room,

“Aki and Akira, huh?”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this seems to be a very short chapter, but I just have cut it there!  
> I'm trying my best to update frequently to pay off the hiatus during the remaining of my holiday (which is only a week away!)  
> I hope you enjoy this!  
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

It is a little bit passed noon when the school bell rings, effectively ending any educational activities the facility held for students under 7 years old. Hearing that, Akihito respectively dismisses his class, earning so many wide smiles of appreciation for ending the class on time.

Students immediately run off towards the exit, flooding the smaller corridor that leads them to it. The class is defiantly empty, saved by some students who are still packing their stuffs into their bags; for a quick example: Hana.

Akihito watches as the little girl brings another one of her fairy tale books into the air before shoving it inside her purple backpack, diligently zipping it close after all of her stuffs are packed. She turns around and puts on the bag before walking towards the exit, passing the blond teacher as she did so. The teacher uses the opportunity to show her a smile, which unexpectedly halts her walk abruptly.

Hana stares up at him with her usual emotionless eyes, her body motionless for a minute or so. Likewise, Akihito watches her, kind of confused as to what kind of things running through the little girl’s head. It takes her a minute to finally open her mouth to break the tensed silence, “Aki – sensei,” she calls.

“Yes?” Akihito responds, crouching down to match her eye-level.

She shuts her mouth for awhile, her eyes wandering everywhere but her teacher as if she doesn’t exactly know what she wants to say. Once she makes up her mind, she says, “I want to go out today,” she looks downwards, the hesitation slowly eats her up, “do you want to go with me?”

That invitation lifts up a smile on his face. He reflexively puts down a palm on top of her head to ruffle her hair a bit as he responds, rather excitedly, “I’d love to. Where do you want to go?”

Something sparkles inside her pupils as she responds, her excitement overwhelms no matter how much she tries to cover it up, “To the library,” she frantically takes off her backpack and rummages through it, fishing out her fairy tale book after. She flips through the pages expertly before landing on a certain page that shows a series of books within, “Look, this is all of Walt Disney’s Series,” she explains, as if what is shown on the page isn’t clear enough for the teacher to understand, “I only have the Snow White and the Beauty and the Beast ones! I want to buy… wait, which one is better, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty?” she looks up then, only to discover the surprise that is completely drawn on Akihito’s face.

The blond stares at her for awhile, extremely bewildered by her sudden chattiness, before letting out a heartfelt laugh that he hasn’t let out in awhile. She may acts cold and too mature for her own age just for some unknown (yet) reason, but no matter how hard she tries, she can never erases her childishness. Despite that, Akihito is somehow delight that he has the chance to witness such a rare thing from her.

Hana pouts when the teacher laughed at her, and she even intended to leave, when a hand suddenly lands on her shoulder to stop her. She halts whatever movement she is going to make to face her teacher once again, the scowl that is clearly drawn all over her face just screams irritation that makes Akihito wants to laugh again. _Once a kid, always a kid._

“Hey, don’t be mad, ‘kay? I will accompany you.” he prompts, tugging the smaller hand to drag her off of her spot as he did so.

Despite her supposedly angry façade, Hana still allows herself to be pulled by him, and it doesn’t take too long for them to walk out of the classroom. Before exiting the school completely, Akihito excuses himself for a moment to take his bag from the locker, and Hana is slightly amazed when the teacher comes back before she knows it just like what he promised her.

Walking through the now empty corridor, something strikes him, and he doesn’t even hold himself for a moment to ask, “Hana, don’t you have to contact your uncle before going? You know, informing him beforehand so he wouldn’t get worried.”

“Oh yeah,” she responds casually, slowly looking up towards her teacher as she continues, “can you do that for me, Sensei? I don’t have a phone so I can’t call my uncle.”

“Oh right,” Akihito answers, fishing out his phone from his pocket like nothing really matters. He expertly browses through his phone to find his contact list, and without a second thought, rummages the list to find the desired contact. When the name finally comes up, Akihito knows he is a decade too late to finally realize who he is going to call. He immediately regrets ever bringing the topic up.

They stop just before the exit to give Akihito some time and space to make the call, which he reconsiders on calling. _Should I call him?_ He muses, disliking the idea completely, _or maybe I could ask Hana to talk to him herself… but that’s not so appropriate of me, right? I mean, I’m the adult here, and therefore I should be the one who—_

“Sensei,” Hana calls, seemingly feeling rather agitated by his suddenly motionless attitude. When Akihito finally catches on her, she adds, “Could you please make it fast? I hate it when the library is already full of people when we arrive.” she reasons, adding a cute pout on her mouth to emphasize it.

Akihito looks at her for a moment before he responds, “Uh, right. Wait.” at that, he forces himself to touch the number, automatically dialing the contact that he is kind of reluctant to talk to.

His heartbeat paces up a bit when he stuck the phone onto his right ear. The familiar rings could be heard from the operator, signaling that the call is successfully connected and it would probably take awhile from the other person to take it. Three rings have passed, and a hope suddenly blooms in his chest at the possibility of not talking to the older man right now. _Maybe I could just leave a message, thus I don’t need to—_

“Asami speaking,” the other line answers, crushing down the hope that is just built inside his chest. There’s a moment of silence before a series of chuckles intervene, seemingly coming from the person he just called, “what is it, Takaba – Sensei?”

Something flips inside his stomach when he heard his name mentioned, layered in that deep baritone voice that rings heavily in his ears. Actually, several days have passed since the last time they met—having Asami so busy he couldn’t make it to the club—and hearing his voice after its absence is somehow calming and frightening at the same time. Akihito lingers onto it for a minute, not realizing that he has indeed ignored the question that was thrown to him.

Asami goes silent for a moment—waiting for at least a short reply from the teacher—but when he got none, he prompts, “Takaba – Sensei?”

“Y—yes?” Akihito finally answers, the surprise layers his voice clearly. He silently curses himself when another set of chuckles responded him, most likely having Asami laugh over his ridiculousness.

Somehow, Akihito could feel the older man smirking at the other side of the line. “Why the sudden call? Something happened?” Asami asks him again, reminding him of the actual matter at hand.

And that is apparently successful enough for Akihito to recall what his reason is for calling him, “Um—Hana wants me to take her to the library right now if it is okay with you,” his eyes run upwards as he thinks about what to say next, “is it?”

“Yeah, I’m perfectly okay with it. Just contact me if something comes up, okay?” Asami responds, which earning an ‘okay’ soon after.

Silence ensues after that and somehow Akihito feels the awkwardness is too much for him to handle. He doesn’t know what to say, and this most likely should have ended minutes ago, but he doesn’t feel like hanging up yet. It feels like a decade since the last time they spoke, and Akihito suddenly has this urge to listen to the older man’s breathing.

Rather fortunately, Asami cuts off the (kind of) awkward silence between them, “Takaba – Sensei?” he calls, which earns an ear from the mentioned blond. Once he feels the teacher has had his full attention on him, he adds, calmly, “I trust Hana in your care.”

That single sentence impacts Akihito more than anything could do. He suddenly feels his body lighter, and his world brighter; he basically feels like he has accomplished all of the available achievements in the world. Akihito feels his cheeks warming and he doesn’t hold in a smile that stretches below his nose. With a soft breath, he responds, “that’s—I… thank you for trusting me,” he grows silent for a minute before adding, “—Asami – san.”, and with that, he hangs up the call.

Akihito believes he may have lost his sane mind when his tongue felt good reciting the older man’s name.

Hana watches as her teacher hangs up the call, lowering down the device from his ear before staring at the monitor for longer than necessary like he is temporarily amazed by the wonderful invention (which most likely not, precisely). Looking at the time, Hana grows impatient, and therefore finally moves her hand to catch the blond’s intention. She tugs the lower hem of his shirt then, luckily earning the desired attention as he defiantly runs his eyes to see her, both dazedness and confusion drawn on his face.

The little girl looks like she is trying her best not to let her temper get the best of her, but when she talks, it’s kind of obvious that she is gritting her teeth in annoyance, “Sensei, please, are you done? Can we go now?”

Sensing the irritations radiating off of her, Akihito immediately snaps himself out and responds, rather panicky, “Oh, yes! Let’s go!” He respectively holds out a hand for her to take and she gladly does, letting her smaller body be dragged by her teacher out of the school.

Both walk in a comforting silence as they enjoy the cooling breeze of the evening wind. It doesn’t take that long for them to arrive at the main street, and that could only mean that they are nearing their destination. Hana’s walk grows to be more bouncy as they inch closer towards the library, having Akihito strengthening up his hold on fear of her running away from him. Later, he finds himself dragged by the smaller girl.

The library is indeed full of people, but that doesn’t seem to ease off Hana’s excitement about going inside. Akihito follows her ways then, accepting the fact that he is indeed being dragged by a little girl who is eighteen years younger than him. Approximately 30 minutes later, they finally exit the library, only to wander off towards the main street filled with snack booths. It takes him by surprise when Hana pulled him towards an ice cream booth, in which he kinds of excitedly obeyed. Akihito doesn’t know why but Hana seems more cheerful at the moment but he doesn’t care. He is happy as long as she is happy. That’s what matters.

It is when they are nearing the booth that Akihito suddenly feels a pair of eyes watching them. He feels the sharp gaze stabbing him on his back, making him turning around cautiously to check on his surroundings. The street is kind of crowded and therefore he couldn’t really focus on a person that is really staring at them for a moment. Akihito lets out a slightly shaky breathe before turning his eyes back towards his student, who is currently ordering the flavor she wants, totally oblivious to her surroundings.

Akihito tries to not think too much about it, but still phones Asami as they are done. He is kind of glad when the hulk that usually takes Hana home from school arrives sooner than he has expected, taking Hana away from the suspicious crowd.

He is offered to be taken home as well, but the teacher generously declines, saying that he has other things he need to do before going home.

The blond takes one last glance towards his back before finally going on his way, leaving the suspicious pair of eyes that actually hasn’t left his presence at all.

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito finds himself fidgeting nervously; having his own hand abuses his other in an attempt to calm himself down. He is currently standing in front of the manager room by a message he received from a female stripper, saying that the manager himself wants to meet him regarding an urgent matter. Whatever matter it is, the blond surely isn’t excited to find out.

Akihito knows from the very start that Sudou wouldn’t like him one bit, for what reason he doesn’t really know. It’s just that, from the moment that blond manager laid his eyes on him, it was filled with hatred, cold hatred that shivered him down to the core. He somehow has become used to the glare the manager often sends towards him, but he believes that it’s probably better to not anger the manager as often as he could. Well, apparently, everything he does angers him so hoping for the latter is kind of pointless.

For the umpteenth time, he exhales out a breath, swallowing the dump that is somehow built inside his throat, before finally strengthening up his mental and determination. This meeting would happen sooner or later anyways, so it’s kind of no use for him to be avoiding it right now. He puts both hands on his sides as he takes a deep breath for the final time, his knuckles clenching and unclenching for stress reliever.

Manning up, he throws all cautions to the wind as he grabs the door handle and pushes it opened, shivering at the sudden breeze the room welcomes him with. Upon entering, Akihito lets his wondering eyes wander throughout the office; well it is his first time entering anyway.

It takes him several seconds to lay his eyes on his boss, who is currently standing behind his working desk, staring at the night view of Tokyo through the tall glass window. Sensing an intruder, the blond manager slowly peeks through his shoulders, and once he sees his desired guest, he turns his whole body fully to face him. Akihito automatically takes in his appearance; curly blond locks, pale irises, and white enchanting suit—just the typical manager that he is.

Akihito is immediately snapped out of his own musings when Sudou moves slightly, closing the distance between him and his own desk, before sitting on the comfortable chair that is meant to be his. The manager looks up then, immediately sending the usual glare towards his restless worker.

It takes him by surprise when Sudou slightly opens up his mouth to speak, “Takaba Akihito,” he takes his moment to put a knuckle up his jaw to support it, before continuing, “please, come closer. I can’t talk to you to if you are that far away.”

Hesitantly, Akihito does as he is commanded, dragging his feet painfully across the carpeted floor until he is finally in front of the desk. He finds the man in front of him analyzing him from head to toe and he finds it super discomforting.

Akihito runs his hazel eyes downwards to meet Sudou’s, and once he did, he is surprised when the manager raises his head to look at him more clearly. Sudou clears his throat before leaning against his seat, both hands are tied in front of his chest as he says, “I assume you enjoy working here as a stripper.”

“Excuse me?” Akihito immediately counters, sensing the ugly black storm coming from the very start of this conversation.

“Yeah, you see,” Sudou runs his eyes downwards, as if in deep thoughts as he elaborates, “I wasn’t available yesterday here because I had to report in to the main office and therefore I couldn’t really observe the condition and situation in the club optimally,” he puts one hand on his head to play with the golden locks, feigning unawareness towards the tensed glare the stripper is currently throwing at him, “I felt really guilty for temporarily abandoning my important role as the manager to watch how the club was going, but fortunately, there is this futuristic and fantastic invention called CCTV you see, in which I could watch over and over all the recorded happenings in the club through so many monitors. Amazing, right?”

“Your point?” the blond stripper insists, the knuckles on his sides turn whiter with each tensed seconds pass.

Sudou lashes an even heated glare towards him, absolutely unamused at how Akihito rudely cut his speech off. He abruptly lungs forward, placing both hands on top of the desk as he speaks, “I know just how much of a whorish person you are but I think you should behave more, Akihito.”

That catches him off guard. Nothing seems to make sense. Everything in that sentence doesn’t sound right in his ears. He has lived his life for 23 years now and not a single act he put on during his lifetime towards other people that deserves the word ‘whorish’ to describe it. Nothing barricades him anymore from throwing a silent tantrum as he sends a blatant glare towards his superior, his eyes turning darker by the anger that is slowly built inside his chest. Despite that, Akihito tries to at least sound calm, only to grit his teeth while he is talking, “I am sorry but what is it that you are trying to say, sir?”

“What I am trying to say is,” he stands up then, matching his employee’s eye-level as he spits out, “I watched you whorishly seducing Asami – sama in the VIP booth, bitch.”

“I didn’t!” Akihito spits back, the pent-up anger finally comes out in a yell that he doesn’t even recognize himself, “You don’t understand the situation! This is purely a misunderstanding!”

“Then what does it look like, huh? Asami – sama seducing _you_?” Sudou said the last word spitefully, his eyes flash menacingly at him for a second, “seriously, don’t make me laugh.”

The last thread of his patience snaps out quicker than he has expected, forcing his madness into action and kicking his muscle into gear. Akihito subconsciously moves his hands to pull of the manager’s collar, pulling the blond man up and closing in their distances, blatantly showing the intensity of the look in his eyes. His pupils draw into slits, and he feels his face burning with rage. Akihito grits his teeth as he speaks, the anger seeping out of his entire presence, “I don’t know what makes you say these things about me but I can assure you that this is a misunderstanding,” he takes a deep breath before continuing, “I still have my pride, sir, and it’s not like I’m enjoying my work here.”

Akihito throws his body back onto the comforting office chair, averting his heated gaze as he grits out, “You sure know by now what my reasons for working here. Fuckin’ hell.”

“Well, I don’t think it would take you that long to finally realize your position here, Takaba,” Sudou replies almost immediately, malignantly tidying up his messed up collar, “after all you take after your father, obviously.”

His ears perk up as the blond manager brings his father up into topic. Something inside him boils even more as Sudou continues to speak, his voice is obviously layered in thick loathe when he lets out, “Just what kind of father that sells his one and only son to pay off his debts? Such idiocy maybe runs in the family.”

“Don’t you dare—“

“Dare what, Takaba?” Sudou snaps back, now walking out of his comfortable seat to stand beside the stripper, eyeing him right in the eye, “what is it that you can do to harm me? You are just a piece of stripper I have, another manwhore that can be eliminated any other day. Nobody would search for you, you will be soon forgotten,” he brings up a finger to poke him right in the middle of his chest, “you are worthless, just like your father.”

That is the last push Akihito needs to finally push his boss onto the floor, his body hovering over him. His irrational mind wins against his rational one as he puts both hands on top of Sudou’s neck, strangling him in a state of blind madness. His hazel eyes turn completely dark as he stares at the struggling manager below him right in the eye; the temperature around them drastically falls down as his voice comes out in a threatening snarl, “Don’t you ever talk about my father like that.”

Sudou puts both hands on top of Akihito’s clawing at the delicate skin as he struggles to be free. He grits his teeth as he hisses, “let me the fuck go,” before deciding to knee the stripper right on his abdomen, earning a satisfying sound of groan that he believes directly affect the strength Akihito has on his hold, and it sure does. With a raging amount of strength Sudou turns the table around, strangling Akihito madly with him on top of him.

When Akihito is unable to fight back because of the lack of oxygen, Sudou jumps up to press on the intercom, effectively calling all of the bodyguards to flood into the office.

Akihito knows he is totally screwed when the last moments of his consciousness are used to watch an army of men running towards his motionless body. His brain registers the one thing that is left inside his brain. It echoes,

 _This is up to no good, obviously_.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this takes longer than usual!:( I have to admit, this chapter is harder to write Im not even sure why, lol  
> There is nothing much of an improvement regarding the character's relationships, but there are conflicts coming up. The shit is about to hit the fan, you see.  
> The next chapter is going to be super messy (I think?) I just hope I can write it down for you guys!._.v  
> I hope you enjoy this!
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

Somewhere in a distant place, Akihito can hear the soft thudding of his own heart, beating weakly underneath his chest as his consciousness slowly seeps into him. It is still dark in his vision, pure blackness surrounding him as he feels his body swimming in a calm current, moving towards wherever the current brings him. He tries to move his arms, his legs, or at least just an inch of his muscle but they don’t obey to him, nothing moves according to his own will. Akihito feels like he is going to give up soon, his heart grows heavy with the need to cry at the realization of his own current desperate state. He wants to know what has happened to him; moreover he wants to know what _is going to happen_ to him.

He is not dead, that’s for sure. But this semi-conscious state he is currently in doesn’t help him to calm himself down. Akihito almost surrenders to the sadness that fast overwhelms him completely when suddenly a circle of light flashes in front of him, growing bigger and bigger with each tensed seconds passed. Akihito slowly tries to open up both of his eyes to welcome the light, and it is seconds later when he realized that he is finally conscious to the world, both of his eyes opened to witness the situation he so longs to know since minutes ago.

The first thing he realizes is his own condition. He is seated on a sofa at the furthest corner of a room, both hands and legs handcuffed to immobilize him for good. His mouth is stuffed with what he recognizes as a soft fabric, most likely satin, and it smelled of a man’s perfume. Akihito blinks both of his hazel eyes once, twice, to finally get the image in front of him clear for his own view.

And then he is finally able to witness the whole room.

The stripper recognizes the room as one of the VIP booths, but it is probably less VIP judging by the facilities the room provides. He jerks his head to one side then, letting his eyes wander for a minute to adjust to the new environment he just forcedly pushed inside. It takes him a moment to finally drop his vision towards what is exactly in front of him. The sight, however, is more terrifying than the fact that he is totally immobilized thanks to the handcuffs that bind him.

There, surrounded by most of the men, is his female friend Kanata. Her hands are tied behind her back, while her legs are harshly spread opened, both ankles are tied on a different spot that makes her legs open up in an almost perfect split. Akihito watches with disgust as he sees a pool of cum flooding around her half-naked body, some even smeared on top of her abdomen, and it pains him greatly when he finds another drops of cum dirtying the make-up covered area that is her face. Her eyes are obviously red from crying, and looking down, he could also see that she is getting abused down there, in which he is too scared to analyze even further. Akihito doesn’t know much about BDSM but this is probably what it looks like; the sight alone is enough to make Akihito heave in an attempt to vomit.

She is half-stripped off of her dress, but she is most likely fully stripped off of her whole dignity.

Something aches inside him as he looks at her pained expression, hears her groan of pain. The eye contact he accidentally makes with her is the last kick he needs to move his muscle into gear, fruitlessly falling down onto the ground as he temporarily forgets at his own condition—tied and helpless himself.

The loud thud of his body hitting the floor is enough to gather all the attention at him. Akihito raises his head to watch all of men turning their heads towards him, momentarily forgetting the woman they are currently molesting at the moment. Akihito is kind of glad that he can at least distracts them from Kanata but when one of them strode towards him and the others follow, there is an unpleasant lump of regret sinking heavily onto the lowest pit of his stomach.

The male stripper lets out a muffled yell as two men roughly circle their hands around his thin arms and pull him upwards, forcing him to stand on his two tied feet. Akihito struggles as they pull him towards Kanata, into the middle of the room and he is suddenly terrified at the idea of him being put in as the main show along with his fellow female stripper.

As he is nearing the poor woman, his eyes slowly catch the sight of Sudou, who is currently sitting at the other corner and talking to a bearded, glasses-wearing man who he doesn’t recognize at all. Akihito is soon thrown onto Kanata, but not hard enough to actually impact her with his fall. Akihito watches as the woman stares at him tearfully, telepathically asking him to help her and it makes him sick in the stomach when he knows he is also helpless at the moment.

He watches with terrified eyes as the army of men that are currently surrounding him move even closer, seemingly wanting to touch him in the same treatment as the one they gave to his female friend. Kanata closes her eyes and scoots even closer towards her friend, her whole body trembling in what seems to be fear as her eyes shed another series of tears once again. Akihito moves to cover her behind his back, giving her as much comfort as he could give at the moment, even though it’s not much, at all.

A clap suddenly rings throughout the empty spaces of the room, halting the men’s movement completely. Akihito slowly runs his hazel eyes towards the source, only to find his blond boss already standing up not too far from his spot. Sudou’s eyes look down at him in disgust, his mouth curls into a half-smirk that only radiates with hot hatred. He cues his men to stand back, and stand back they do. He stands over the two strippers then, both hands folded in front of his chest as his eyes shoot them a menacing look.

“You are probably wondering why you are here, or what I am going to do to you,” he stops, using a moment to crouch, matching their eye-level as he continues, “well, remember my promise about your being once you don’t do a good job here?”

He pauses then, briefly searching for the hidden wrath that is obviously hiding behind those sharp hazel eyes of his victim. With a wicked smile, he adds, “brothels?”

He brings a hand up towards Akihito, snatching the fabric that was once shoved down inside his mouth to keep him silent. Once the fabric is out, however, Akihito wastes no second to bark back, his voice comes out deep and harsh as he shouts, “You have no right to do that! And furthermore, why is Kanata here? What did she do wrong? What are you—“

“Oh shut the hell up,” and with that, he abruptly stands up, and with a single movement, a swift kick is soon later landed on Akihito’s stomach, making him heave at the bruising pain that kicks into his nerves. The blond stripper lowers down as his head as he manages the pain that is slowly crawling into every part of his body, his hands itching to touch his bruised stomach to calm down the pain. His eyes are still glued onto the floor as the menacing voice of his superior comes ringing back into his ears, “since I am pretty generous this time, I’m going to explain to you everything that’s going to happen to you, since your whorish brain seems to be too stupid to understand anything on your own naturally.”

Sudou has not hesitation as he grips onto the blond wig that is on Akihito’s head to pull his head up, the clips and pins that pin the wig onto his head dig into his scalp painfully he almost lets out a groan.

Akihito grits his teeth tight as he is forced to look upon the devil that is his boss, his hazel eyes witness the evil glint that flashes through his eyes for a millisecond, “I know it’s not that long since you have been working here, but I must admit, you have been behaving madly, Akihito. I need to give you the punishment you deserve,” he throws his head to one side, letting Akihito averts his eyes from his offender. Sudou swiftly walks towards the bearded man that he was talking with earlier and puts a hand on top of his shoulder, as if wanted to acknowledge the man’s presence. As soon as Akihito raises his head once again to look at him, Sudou speaks, “This man here, you can call him Sakazaki, not that you will remember it later on,” the bearded man who he soon knows as Sakazaki only glares towards the manager, but decides to keep silent as he continues, “he is an acquaintance of mine who is also running a prostitution industry. Sounds nice, right?”

The blond manager walks back towards Akihito, “I assure you, you are in good hands. Once Sakazaki – san here is done _handling_ you, you will soon forget about who you are, and suddenly, working in a brothel doesn’t sound bad at all,” Sudou runs his eyes towards the men in suit that are surrounding them at the moment as he continues, “but before that, I believe you should get to used to it first, and so I generously bring you here just for that.”

“For _what_? Get used to _what_?” Akihito’s voice falters slightly as he spares a glance towards the men behind Sudou; their eyes are looking at him hungrily like some predators that have been starving for years. The blond stripper gulps down the lump that is suddenly built in his throat when the thought of him being the prey mercilessly forced its way into his mind.

“To men, Takaba,” Sudou stares back at him once again, now throwing more daggers in his gaze, “getting you used to men. Is that so hard for you to understand?”

Akihito pales immediately when the intention of tying him up and bringing him into this room becomes steel clear into his mind. Sudou definitely wants him to be raped, to be raped by these men in suits who he doesn’t recognize at all. Sudou wants to break him, for all of his worth, until he is nothing but a piece of meat with a whorish body and whorish mouth, who doesn’t have any single piece of rational mind, who couldn’t think of anything else besides begging them to do him more.

The blond stripper shudders at the thought. That is definitely the last thing he would ever do. Akihito takes the time to think, but then a sudden realization hits him, “If this is all about me, then why did you bring Kanata here? What did she do wrong?”

“Oh, her,” Sudou lets out a sigh, as if frustrated at the reminder of the bad behavior his employees did in the past, “The bitch accidentally had sex with one of my customer, saying that he was the one who forced himself onto her and all. And guess what? She is pregnant.”

At that, Akihito immediately whips his eyes to meet hers, and it breaks his heart when the female stripper avoids his gaze, as if mortified by the horrifying truth, which she most likely is. It doesn’t take long for her to finally open up her mouth, only to let out pathetic sobs that are most likely held inside her for too long. Akihito looks at his own lap then, so many things circling inside his head it almost makes him dizzy.

It takes a moment for him to finally responds, his eyes still gluing onto his lap, “Since when?”

“When what?” Sudou asks nonchalantly.

“Since when did you know about her pregnancy?” Akihito insists, his head slowly raising to meet the demon in front of him, “Since when did you start punishing her like this? Are you planning to send her into prostitution too?”

“That doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Sudou counters back, his voice sounds menacingly cold to the ears, “what matters is that this woman—” he points a finger at Kanata, who doesn’t have any dignity left in her to actually raise her head to look back at him, “—has tainted what supposed to be my precious customer. What if she got PTSD or something? What if the club goes bankrupt just because of a single, fatal complain? I truly cannot handle the shame.”

“That doesn’t make selling her into the prostitution any better,” Akihito grits out through his clenched teeth, his knuckles turn whiter and his eyes turn sharper as he slowly lets his anger gets the best of him, “She is pregnant for fuck’s sake! You surely have no shame at all if you have the heart to sell her out just because of some piece of shit customer you keep your pride on. This is bullshit!”

“Well why should I care, anyway? She is just a stripper,” Sudou doesn’t even spare him another glance as he turns back, walking away from the center of attention as he barks out, “go get them.”

Everything suddenly moves on slow motion as Akihito is being separated from his poor friend, his arms are getting sore from getting dragged all over the place harshly. Akihito watches as Kanata fights for freedom; she shakes her body all over, attempting to wriggle free, but she is completely conquered when her bounded hands and legs in fact didn’t do her any help at all. She cries out a heartfelt wail when a man hovers over her, intending to continue whatever ministration he was going to do to her that was cut off earlier. She lets out a muffled scream when the man touches her, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh almost immediately comes afterwards, alerting Akihito at the urgent situation he is currently facing, and that he should do something faster to save her.

On the other hand, the men that manhandled him earlier have advanced on sliding their hands all over his body, making him squirm at the discomfort and disgust he feels at the foreign touches. Akihito fights them off but it is all useless. He tries to kick them only to have his legs captured and shoved upwards, mortifyingly showing his pelvis area towards the hungry eyes that seem to strip him off. Akihito barks and bites, but he is completely helpless compared to all of the men that are obviously stronger than him in strength and what’s more? They can move, freely.

Akihito doesn’t know what to concentrate anymore. He wants to think about Kanata, about her safety above all else, but on the other hand he is also in danger; he needs to help himself. His thoughts are abruptly scrambled down when he feels a hand touching the front of his underpants, its fingers slowly crawled to find the treasure just beneath it. Akihito curses and tries to move his legs but the other man holds him tight, he couldn’t move at all. His heart jumps and sinks into the lowest pit of his stomach when his underpants is suddenly pulled down, revealing his sex to every eyes that could see. Akihito watches with terrified eyes as his underpants is slowly pulled further away, leaving his cock and butthole out in the open.

Akihito lets out a frightened yelp as a hand suddenly touches his private, groping his testicles in a discomforting way that makes him want to squirm away. Another hand comes in to join, and he immediately screams aloud when the hand aims for his butt hole, the still virginal butt hole of his.

It feels disgusting; to have a foreign finger being shoved harshly into his insides, against his will on top of that. Akihito lets out a cry of painful embarrassment as he feels one finger wriggling its way inside, working his hole opened painfully by the harshness of it and lack of lubricant that it uses. One then turns into two, and it doesn’t take long for him to finally take three fingers inside him, his cries and groans of protest are long forgotten.

Akihito slowly counts the seconds inside his head, hoping that these torturing ministrations would end soon if he just averts his mind away from it. He stares at the white ceiling above him and lets his mind wander off, away from this horrible place and this horrible situation. He closes his eyes and thinks about Hana; he thinks about her sweet tiny smile and her cute attitude. He thinks about her adorable tendencies to hide away her feelings and only opens up to him, he thinks about her trust to him, and the way her eyes would sparkle the moment he says ‘yes’ to whatever she wants him to do. He thinks about how unlucky he is to not being able to discover all of her background out, and instead has to spend his time being fondled by these dirty men that he doesn’t know at all.

And then he thinks about Asami. He thinks about his arrogant wide smirk and his cool stance. He thinks about his arrogant attitude and his incapability of not ordering him out. He thinks about how smoothly he talks as well as how swiftly he lies, he does it so well like breathing. Akihito then remembers his touches, his lips, his eyes, and his mind and body are suddenly brought into another pleasurable dimension where there is only him and the other man with a pair of sharp golden eyes.

It feels so embarrassing and good at the same time to be stared down by those eyes. Akihito has to admit, he could look at his eyes forever and he wouldn’t get tired of it. The blond actually longs for Asami to come for him, and he kinds of regret it when the thought alone only comes when he is in an emergency like this.

 Akihito almost surrenders to the situation when the door that leads towards the corridor opened up, halting every movement in the room.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh I'm not sure how this turns out, lol. This takes me a whole day to write, and I still feel uncomfortable while posting this. I hope this turns out okay and readable._.v  
> I still feel that there's something lacking in this, like, I feel like I haven't tortured Akihito enough XD  
> please feel free to give me suggestions and point out my mistakes as I'm going to edit this whole story starting next week (I think? If Im not busy lol)  
> I hope you enjoy this!  
> I do not own the Finder Series


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

Everything seems to move on slow motion as the door that leads towards the exit opens up; revealing a figure of a dark man whose face hasn’t been visible yet, covered by the dust of impact that follows along his massive force when he shoved the door opened earlier. All presences immediately look up, only to get their whole body frozen down to the flowing of their own blood inside their veins. Every movement is halted, as if welcoming the grand entrance of a great king.

Akihito opens his eyes and raises his head in an attempt to see what is going on or who just slammed the door opened. Well, he would be eternally grateful if the person who just came in is an ally. He tries to see but the men that surrounded him are too tall and too broad, they are covering him from the seems-to-be-mesmerizing sight. He tries to wriggle his body then, moving a centimeter per second closer towards the source of attention, but alas, he only gets to see the polished loafer shoes.

The person who just came clears his throat, causing most of the people in the room to flinch in fear. Akihito watches all reactions and feels nervous himself; his mind keeps on making scary scenarios regarding the newcomer. His curiosity is soon fulfilled, however, when the person himself finally starts speaking, “I will give an exact ten seconds,” he starts, and Akihito suddenly has many hopes when he recognized the voice, “for any of you who doesn’t understand and not fully a part of this, to run out of this room and not come back. Or else,” the blond looks as those loafer shoes shift aside, only to make room for another pairs of loafer shoes to stand beside him, “he who daringly chooses to stay would pay, dearly.”

The man apparently doesn't have to count his fingers as the army of men that flooded the room earlier immediately vanishes within seconds, their heavy bodies grinding and clashing against each other in an attempt to escape faster than the other. Akihito watches as they march out, leaving the room empty and deserted saved for some people who stay behind like him. They are none other than Kanata (who is still bound and tied so she couldn’t really move to run), surprisingly Sakazaki and Sudou, and also the newcomer and his own men. The blond whips his head upwards to see his supposedly savior, only to lock eyes with the black raven haired man that haunted his mind and thoughts for these past few days.

Asami Ryuichi stands tall and handsome as usual in his expensive three-piece-suit; he looks polished from the very strand of his hair to the very tip of his loafer shoes. Those golden eyes turn amber as he looks at the blond stripper, who stares at him back, engaging them in an unbreakable and heated eye-contact. Asami calmly strides towards Akihito in a gentle stance, before slowly crouching down in front of his laying figure, subsequently helping him to sit on his spot. Akihito watches as the older man fishes out a pin and goes on to work on the locks on his handcuffs, swiftly working on his wrists before going to his legs next. Being the center of his concentration, the blond could actually observe the older man to the finest details, even to the very tip of his eyelashes. The thought along brings joy to the very core of him—being this close to this man means that he is not alone. Somehow Akihito believes that Asami comes to save him—to save him from this hellish nightmare.

When the last piece of locks finally clicks with the pin, Asami immediately pulls the handcuffs away from the blond and gets rid of it from view. It takes him by surprise when Akihito didn’t move at all, eyes still focused on him but not a single movement did he catch in his eyes. Only then he realizes that Akihito is trembling; his body is shaking like a plane that suffers from a horrible turbulence. Looking closely, he also notices the unusual paleness on his skin and the horrible amount of sweat that forms on his forehead—he is terrified.

As if on cue, the older man lunges forward with both hands opened, swiftly engulfing the blond stripper in a tight hold that he later recognizes as an embrace; a genuine embrace. He closes his eyes and relishes all the feels; the feeling of Akihito’s body against his, the smell of his hair, the heat of his body, but most of all, the sound of his ragged breath. Asami hugs him even tighter as he feels him getting more nervous, and he is kind of glad when a pair of shaking hands slowly come up to embrace him as well, their fingers desperately crawling onto his back in an attempt to seek even more comfort, seeking more protections.

Slowly, Asami stands up, respectively helping Akihito as well with the hold he has around his abdomen. The blond obediently follows to whatever he wants him to do, and it doesn’t take him that long to finally stand up, both hands still hugging the older man. Akihito buries his head into Asami’s chest and unintentionally catches the distinct smell of the perfume the man seems to like wearing for going out, which comforts him even more as he swallows himself in it.

Asami watches as the blond grows calm, the trembling ceases and his breathing grow even. He still keeps his hands around him though, even as he turns his head and runs his eyes towards Sudou, who apparently has stood behind him with his head down in shame like a kicked puppy.

When the blond manager senses that he is currently looked down by his superior, he immediately raises his head, and with a slightly wavering voice, speaks, “A-Asami – sama, this doesn’t mean what it looks like—“, he dares himself to make a slight move, “I swear I can explain—“

“I think there is nothing more to be discussed here, Sudou,” Asami counters back coldly, his golden eyes turn amber as he adds, “and seeing that Sakazaki is also here, I have had enough evidence about your shady doings.”

The mentioned man only stays silent; his attitude also cowers in fear. He stands beside Sudou wordlessly whilst the blond man swallows all of his pride in shame, his eyes casted downwards as the heat of the gaze his boss throws at him has become completely unbearable. He clenches his knuckles at his sides as Asami calmly walks towards the exit, Akihito still tight in his hold. His eyes rise just in time to catch the sight of them walking away with Asami possessively holding onto the blond like it is his lifeline. Sudou grits his teeth in silent wrath.

Just before he is completely out of the room, Asami stops, only to open his mouth and says, “You are going to come to the main office to meet me tomorrow, Sudou,” he spares a single, last glance filled with menace, “and don’t you even dare to think about running away.” and with that, Asami finally closes the door, sealing his employee’s fate altogether.

Finally out of the traumatizing room, Akihito raises his head, only to lock eyes with the man who just saved him. They are still holding each other in a hug, and at one moment Akihito feels it is impossible to just let go of this comforting embrace he is receiving. The blond is about to bury his face once again into his chest when a realization suddenly hits him in the head, making him jerking his head back to finally look on his surroundings, “Kanata – san? Where’s she? What about her?!”

A hand suddenly holds him on the back of his head and pulls it back towards the man. Letting out a content sigh, Asami responds, “She is going to be okay. I have had one of my subordinates getting her out earlier, and she is currently on her way towards the hospital,” he ruffles the blond wig and Akihito suddenly feels it like his own hair, “you can visit her as soon as you’re okay yourself.”

“Please—“, Akihito chokes on his breath, “please make her okay. Please—“

“I will,” the hold gets even deeper, if it’s even possible, “I will, Takaba.”

The blond looks back at him with the surprise fully drawn on his face, his eyes shine with pure disbelief. Asami only curls up a tiny smirk in his lips but Akihito can’t actually bring himself to care at that matter right now.

Asami lets go of him then only to take off his coat, gentlemanly draping it around Akihito to cover his minim clothing. Before the blond could respond, the older man immediately takes hold of his hand, dragging him out of the corridor and out of the club as well. Akihito hurriedly follows him in his sheath and high stilettos, making his walk grows shorter compared to his longer stride. With great effort he finally catches on the older man, only to be faced with what he recognizes as a limousine—its black color seems to shine under the moon on the night sky. Akihito unconsciously follows him until he is inside the vehicle, and he doesn’t find it in him to protest regarding the whole situation.

Once inside the spacious car, Asami immediately pulls Akihito towards him, sliding a possessive hand across his back only to land on his waist. As if on silent command, the driver immediately drives the car into another journey, and it suddenly bothers the blond to ask, “Where are we going?”

“To your apartment,” Asami answers almost immediately, his golden eyes searching for his hazel ones in the dimmed light, “you need a rest.”

Akihito only nods silently, and they suddenly fall into a comfortable silence. The younger man slowly puts his head just to lean against Asami’s shoulder just for comfort and moments later, Akihito finds himself playing with the man’s fingers. He touches the skin of it, and he finds it charming to find it filled with calluses. He strokes every corners, every undersides; slowly enjoying the pleasant feeling of his skin against his. He lets out a warm smile as he looks at their hands, both is different in size—of course Asami’s hand is bigger and tougher than his.

The older man watches his antics silently and he feels odd when he thinks it’s adorable.

Asami finally opens his mouth to start a conversation, “You know, since I have known about a part of you right now I believe I have the right to know the complete story as well.”

“What part?” Akihito snorts, still focusing on forming the peace sign with the fingers he is playing.

“About you being a stripper as well as my niece’s teacher,” Asami prompts, his voice sounds calm and collected, “you seemed to want to hide it so badly, even though it’s so obvious.”

Akihito jerks his head up then, still not letting go of his hands though, “Since when did you know about me, anyway?”, he pouts.

“Since that day I kissed you at the club,” the older man reminds him nonchalantly, only to be rewarded by an adorable blush that immediately claims the blond’s whole face, “you just can't hide your reactions. The way you act as a stripper and as a teacher shows no difference to me. It’s so easy to read you out.”

“Ugh, I’m done for,” Akihito lowers down his head and puts a hand to cover his face, his voice comes out as a pathetic groan, “now you’re going to report me in and I will lose my job as a teacher. Great.”

At that, Asami only raises an eyebrow, “Why should I? That would be a complete waste,” he puts a finger underneath his chin to raise his face so that he could look him right in the eye, “after all, Hana seems to like you a lot.”

“Really?” Akihito gasps contentedly; his hazel eyes sparkle in the dimmed car.

The older man only nods and Akihito believes that he couldn’t be happier to accept it as an answer. The blond leans his head against him again then, happily going back to play with the fingers which he finds fascinating.

But Asami is having none of that, “So? Care to open up to me?”

Akihito briefly stops fiddling with his fingers then, “What kind of story do you want to know, anyway? My youth criminal records?”

“The story that brings you to work at the club, of course,” the older man thinks for a bit, “and those too, if you want.”

Asami lets out a heartfelt chuckle when the blond beside him pouted, pulling at his fingers slowly to lash out his bad mood. Akihito stays silent for a moment to think about it, and when he was finally ready to open his mouth to talk, he raises his head to look at Asami in the eye, “Tell me just one reason why I should tell you.”

“Because,” Asami pulls Akihito towards him and lifts him to position him on his lap, the blond straddling over him with both hands placed on his shoulders, “I’m the only one who you can trust.”

“Really?” Akihito backs away for a bit, feigning disbelief as he talks, “what makes you so confident to say that?”

“Have I ever told you that you are just so easy to read?” at that, the older man only raises an eyebrow, “Even now I believe you are 95% trusting me.”

“Have I ever told you that you are one confident bastard? No offense,” the blond counters back, sarcasm thick in his voice when he spoke. Asami only lets out a chuckle as he places one hand on the back of the blond’s head to pull him even closer, sticking his forehead onto his.

Akihito lets out a contented sigh then, before saying, “so you really want to know huh?”

“You can say that.” Asami replies; placing a palm on his cheeks to caress is softly, as if tending to a fragile small kitten.

The blond lets out a deep breath then, and before he even knew it, he has let his mouth talk about almost everything regarding his life, his mother, but mostly about his father. He tells it all; tells about how his father had betrayed him and sold him towards the club in order to pay off his gambling debts, how he had clumsily killed himself with alcohol overdosing, how he had left Akihito alone with the burden of debts that was supposed to be his own responsibility. He also tells Asami about how uncomfortable he is while he is working there, and the only way to actually quit the job is to pay off all of his father’s debts, which is too much compared to his monthly salary. Asami doesn’t talk at all—he just listens. He is listening to the sorrow that layers the blond’s voice when he talked, and it is always there on almost every topic and aspects of the story. Once in a while, Asami will unconsciously stroke the blond softly on his tights to make him feel better, just because he wants to.

Time passes by unexpectedly and Akihito suddenly finds themselves arriving at his apartment, the familiar rundown building that he calls his home stands tall before them. Realizing that, Akihito slowly pulls himself off of Asami’s lap and opens the passenger’s door just beside him, letting him feel the chilling breeze of the night that freezes him down to the very core of his bones thanks to the short length of the sheath he is wearing. He immediately gets off the vehicle with Asami surprisingly in tow, accompanying him just until he reaches the front door of his apartment.

Akihito uses the spare key he put in the mail box earlier today to unlock the door, opening it up to reveal the darkness of his uninhabited apartment. He takes one step inside before turning around, facing the older man who has faithfully followed him up until there. His hazel eyes run upwards, searching for the golden ones that have actually stared at him for some quiet time now. Once their eyes have locked, they just stand there in comfortable silence, enjoying the soft sounds of their own breathing. Akihito unconsciously lets out a small, soft smile as his stomach suddenly feels warm with butterflies and heat; his heart expands with staccato beats that he doesn’t mind at all. Likewise, Asami spreads a tiny smile underneath his nose, seemingly enjoying the blond’s presence as well.

“Thank you,” Akihito lets out, “for everything, I mean. Literally,”

“I don’t know why you wanted to save me and everything I—I don’t know what else to say—“

“Then there’s nothing else to say,” Asami cuts him off softly, caressing his cheek once again to let him enjoy the warmth of his calloused fingers, “your things that are left behind at the club will be sent tomorrow first thing in the morning so that you could go to work as usual. Or you can contact the head teacher for a day off; it’s up to you,”

Akihito almost cries at the loss when Asami pulls his hand away, “You need a rest, and I think I’d better be going now.”

The older man steps back then, before turning on his way, slowly descending through the long corridor towards the stairs. Akihito watches him as he goes, his feet unconsciously wanting to run towards him and his hands itching to hug him from behind. He opens his mouth slightly then, and hesitantly calls, “Asami – san!”

The mentioned man almost immediately turns around; his golden eyes swiftly run to look at the blond who just called him. Akihito looks rather hesitant for a moment, but after the longest seconds in his life, the younger man adds, “Please—“ he breathes, “can you—stay with me?”

That is all it takes for Asami to run back towards him, the elegance in his movement is gone and is replaced by the true fierceness of a panther catching up to its prey. With one swift movement, the older man circles his hands around the blond’s hips and lifts him up, bringing him inside the apartment in a scary pace whilst locking the door behind him.

Asami wastes no time to finally search for the blond’s lips using his, and he successfully does find it in no time. Akihito immediately closes his eyes the second those lips touched his, his eyelashes lovingly kisses his heated cheeks as he relishes in the feelings of Asami’s own heated kiss. It feels wonderful and out of this world; totally mind-blowing and breathtaking—Akihito feels like he could kiss the man forever. He then puts both hands on each sides of Asami’s face, intending on deepening the already deep kiss they are currently engaging in by tilting his head to one side.

The older man keeps on striding inside in a raging pace, letting his coat that was draped over Akihito’s shoulders earlier to fall helplessly in the middle of the way from the front door.

It doesn’t take them long to reach Akihito’s futon, and Asami respectively puts him down first before pushing him down, his body hovering over him just like their very first kiss. Asami continues his kiss then, until a hand suddenly stops him at his chest, “Wa—wait—“

“I can’t,” the older man replies shortly, but then he is pushed back once again, “what?”

“Please give me time to—“, Akihito brings himself to sit up, his erratic breath soon catching up to him, “—to take off the wigs and this dress and—“

“I can do that for you—“

“Asami!” the blond squeals then, finally earns a full attention from the older man then, “please?”

Asami is silent for a bit, but then his silence erupts into a heartfelt series of chuckles; he finally pulls back to sit on the futon himself. Still chuckling himself, he finally gives up, “Okay, take your time,” he lets out a satisfied sigh as he adds, “on side note, I kind of like it when you squealed my name like that.”

A deep blush of crimson red immediately claims his entire face after that, and Akihito only lets out a pout as a reply before turning around, seemingly too embarrassed to openly strip himself in front of the man.

 Asami watches him from behind as he slowly brings up both of his hands towards the inside of his wig, seemingly wanting to take it off first before his sheath. Akihito takes one pin after another gently, putting the pins respectively right beside the futon side by side. The blond wig is soon picked up and put just beside the pins, revealing his real hair which is just a shorter version of his wig with a wild streak. From this angle, Asami could see the unrevealed skin of Akihito’s neck, which looks slender and supple to the naked eye. Akihito dares himself to steal a glance through his shoulders but refrains himself from doing it, afraid he would get more embarrassed than he already is.

The blond then moves on to his sheath but soon finds difficulties regarding the zipper, which is kind of hard to reach for him.  Hesitantly, Akihito peeks through his shoulders, in which that single action catches Asami’s eye. He runs his hazel eyes upwards, still hesitating to ask the man of this, but realizing soon after that he has no other choice. “Asami – san,” he calls. Asami doesn’t speak out any reply but he knows the older man heard him just fine, “could you help me with the... zipper? It’s kind of hard for me to reach…”

“With pleasure.” and with that, Asami swiftly crawls to sit right behind him, his warm breath ghosting over the naked skin on his neck.

Akihito can feel the heat from the man’s body radiating off towards his back and he is suddenly getting more nervous by that. He slowly closes his eyes as he feels a calloused finger accidentally touches his skin, indicating that Asami is currently in the middle of his task. The sound of zipper being unzipped soon follows, and it doesn’t take long for Akihito to feel the breeze that crashes wildly against his naked back.

Akihito feels the extreme thudding of his own heart just beneath his chest. Soon, they will be touching each other, skin on skin, completely nude and completely _them_ , at least that’s what he thought. He doesn’t know why he suddenly wants Asami here, or why he suddenly wants _him_ , but the only reminder that Asami seems to want him too is just enough to push him over the edge of his rationality.

The blond turns around then, finally starting to grip on the skirt of his sheath to take it off through his head. He still closes his eyes as he does what he is doing, but he is totally aware of the heat of the gaze that is directed at him, totally watching every move he makes. The sheath slowly goes up to reveal his underpants, upper to reveal his abdomen, and soon upper to be completely out of him, revealing his totally nude body towards Asami.

He then starts counting to ten, taking several deep breathes, before bracing himself to open up his eyes, slowly yet surely as he adjusts the beating of his heart as well.

In front of him, sat Asami, whose eyes plastered on his body like super-glue, whose knuckles have turned white from clenching onto the sheets of the futon beneath him from holding himself, whose lungs seem to have stopped breathing since awhile ago, upon seeing the sight in front of him. A soft blush dusts over his cheekbones as he sees Asami’s reactions towards his body, and he doesn’t have to say anything for Asami to finally move from his temporary paralyzed-state to attack him.

Asami once again lunges towards him in an attempt to kiss him, which he welcomes rather gladly and more prepared this time. He slightly juts his lips out to receive the welcomed kiss, slowly falling into the addicting sensation of that kiss alone. He puts both hands on the man’s broad shoulders and lets them crawl upwards, softly clutching onto the soft strands that he later recognizes as the man’s black raven hair. Akihito closes his eyes as he automatically opens his mouth to let Asami travel in it; his tongue seems to already know his mouth’s intention as it swiftly slide inside them. Akihito lets out a small moan when the tongue explores his mouth; every corner and every side seem to be no secret to it.

The kiss is cut soon after that, letting them to breathe in the lost air during the heat of the act. Akihito looks at the older man and smiles, before pushing himself up to sit and places both of his hands on Asami’s chest, immediately working on the tiny buttons of his dress shirt. Asami watches his slender fingers as they begin to pop each buttons opened, slowly revealing more and more of the tanned abs that hides just beneath it. Once all of the buttons are out, Asami respectively helps him with taking off the dress shirt himself, half-stripped of his total clothing.

Akihito touches the heated skin of Asami’s chest slowly; his eyes running across every turn and every edge of his abs wonderingly as if he just witnessed the true God’s masterpiece. He then looks up to meet with Asami’s gaze and he is suddenly kissed again, now a soft, still passionate kiss as he is pushed down once again.

That night, Akihito finds himself not acting like _himself_. In fact, Akihito doesn’t really know who he is at the moment Asami starts touching him. All he knows is that, the older man touches him at all the right places, and each touches feel heavenly against his skin; makes him a wanton to be touched more. Akihito melts every time those calloused fingers place their marks on him; every time those lips kiss him—basically every time Asami makes his own presence on him. It is like, he is the clay, while Asami is the artist, and all he wants is for Asami to shape him up, to place all of his distinctive touches on his body so everyone could see just who he belongs to—just who has successfully shaped him into a beautiful masterpiece that would even put Mona Lisa to shame.

Akihito swears he could see the Milky Way galaxy just behind his eyes when Asami implants himself in him, thrusting into him so hard until all he could think about is the universe that collides and divides to make a place for them. Being with Asami makes him witness a sight he has never seen before; a breathtaking and heavenly place that brings him to the brim of his own happiness.

They kiss and kiss until their lips become sore and embrace and hug each other so tight it feels almost impossible to let go.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, this is probably the longest chapter I have written in awhile, and I really should probably take a lil break after this =v=  
> One more day and holiday is totally over, guys!:( I will try to write more often now so that I could still keep up the pace of the incoming updates:)  
> I hope you enjoy this! Well, to cut the long story short, they did have the honky-tonky there, but I just couldn't write the actual scene so... //hides behind the walls of shame//
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

The hallway is surprisingly quiet when he steps in; the corridor filled with doors on each of his side welcoming him with its bright lightings. Akihito clenches the sling of his bag tightly as he descends throughout the long corridor, looking and observing the plate numbers that are plastered on each door briefly to find the exact room he is looking for.

He was just back from teaching at school that day and immediately took off towards the hospital where his friend is treated in, thanks to a tiny note Asami has (probably) left him inside his bag which was left behind the night before at the club; it was returned to his apartment first thing in the morning, just like what the older man has promised him.

Akihito's hazel eyes wander off everywhere, still searching for that exact number, while his mind goes off anywhere but there. Pieces and pieces of memories from last night uninvitedly come back to him, reminding him of each act in sequence like a broken video record.

His hands still feel the heated tingle that dances in the tip of his fingers, just by recalling the sweaty, tanned skin that was revealed against his touch, ready to be mapped out and explored. He touches his lips with his fore and middle fingers and he was suddenly reminded of how deliciously it was molested last night, every dips and lows were touched professionally like the most fragile piece of art. But most of all, he could never, ever forget the heated gaze those golden eyes faithfully sent to him, sharp and penetrating, enchanting and breathtaking, and it was all presented just for him. Those golden eyes seem to never let him go wherever he went; they would follow him when he lay on his back and panted below him; they would follow him also when he straddled him and rode him to the top of satisfaction. They were bearing so many holes on his naked body, and Akihito couldn't find it in him to dislike it.

Everything felt so right, like they really belonged right there, doing the things that they were born to do. They kissed, and touched, and embraced, and never let go; Akihito can even vaguely feel the fierceness of the nails that left their marks on every part of his body—each marks send a comfortable throb to make themselves known. Everything was supposed to go as he has planned inside his head; they should have been forever there and never let go.

But he couldn't find Asami when he woke up this morning.

His heart thumped achingly at the reminder of that morning, where he found himself sitting up by himself on the futon. There's no any hint of living except himself—everything looked just like what it did when he left them the day before and he couldn't really sense the presence of the man at all. _Shouldn't he at least stay until I wake up? Or does he think this was just a mere fling and therefore feels no need to let me catch up on anything?_ Akihito negatively assumes, _—but then again, why the hell would I care?_

Sure, he honestly feels that their bodies are extremely compatible and it would surely feel good if they were to do it again, but he doesn't recall any moment where they try to attach themselves to each other. He doesn't really know Asami that well but he is sure the man wouldn't simply let his feelings take the toll of him; he would professionally control his own emotion and therefore won't get carried away that easily with everything he does and chooses—including the things that revolve around Akihito.

And as to why Asami saved him... Well, anyone would do it because surely Sudou is wrong. Asami just did the right thing and Akihito thinks that he was just happened to be the victim when Asami planned to ambush the blond manager. Everything just happened coincidentally, and Akihito doesn't really think that Asami would think of it as something special.

He pulls his mouth into a deep frown, suddenly feeling unamused by his own thoughts. Asami being Asami, he couldn't really figure out what's going on inside the man's head.

Akihito halts his walk when a massive figure of a man in a black suit is spotted just in front of one of the door; his clothes surely stand out in the bright, all-white corridor. The blond cautiously checks out the plate number of the door he blocks, and it is surprisingly Kanata's room. Looking closely, Akihito is unconsciously pleased when he recognizes who the man is.

The blond slowly inches closer towards the gruff-looking man who is standing just before the door he is looking for before slightly opening his mouth to speak, a tiny smile is etched on his lips as he starts, "excuse me," the man immediately runs his eyes towards him, "is this Kanata's room?"

"Oh, Takaba - sensei," the man is surprisingly polite despite his looks, judging by the way he nods his head a little in acknowledgement towards the blond's arrival. He steps aside to give a bit space for Akihito to see the plate number before saying, "yes, it is. She's currently resting, but she is awake for visits, especially yours." at that, Akihito couldn't help but smile a little wider, his face beaming with happiness that blooms in his chest at the fact that his friend seems to be fine and also seems to be thinking about him.

Akihito steps towards the door, readying himself to open up the door when a question flashed across his mind. Arching up an eyebrow (he swears he learned it from watching Asami), he asks, "Why are you standing here? Couldn't you just come in?"

The bigger man surprisingly flinches a bit at the question that seems to catch him off-guard. Bringing up a hand to scratch the back of his head, he lowers down his gaze and responds, "Asami - sama has instructed me to watch her condition while waiting for your visit. I didn't come in because—", he pauses mid-words, seemingly trying to find just the exact reason why, "she was scared of looking at me and the doctors told me to stay away from her, afraid that I could worsen her condition with shock."

"Really?!” Akihito almost yells, but burst out laughing at the thought, "so you are going to stay here all the while hiding your face from her?"

The man in question just shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, his eyebrows furrow deeper as if in deep thought. Sensing that he doesn't seem to want to respond him in words, Akihito mentally brushes away the question before finally landing his palm on the door's handle, opening it swiftly for him to step inside.

His hazel eyes immediately take in the white room, and he is totally mesmerized. Everything is white and looks perfectly clean, even the fake flowers that are set in a vase as a decoration look fresh like they just bloomed that afternoon. Right on the opposite side of the room rests a big double window, graced by pure white curtains that are a little bit transparent to let just the sufficient amount of sun light in. He can also makes out a wardrobe on his right, and an attached bathroom door just right beside it; everything looks nice and in-sequence. And then he runs his eyes towards his right and there he sees the person he is seeking right then.

Sitting on a similarly white hospital bed is Kanata, whose emerald eyes have stuck to him since the very first second he set his foot into her environment. She is dressed in a hospital dress and an IV tube is attached on her left hand, delivering enough nutrition from the IV bag that is hung not too far above her head. She sports herself a weak but still encouraging smile as Akihito replies her smile with his own, his legs automatically moves to decrease the distance that spreads between them. With each steps committed, Akihito can feel his smile grows wider, his body grows brighter, and he has arrived just beside her on the bed's edge sooner than he has expected.

Kanata opens up her mouth then, and it pains Akihito dearly when a sound that comes out from her mouth is way weaker than her usual cheerful voice. "Aki-chan," she calls, realizing the obvious desperation that abruptly claims the blond's whole face, "I'm so glad you come to visit me."

"Of course," that comes out a little bit heavy, and Akihito finds himself furrowing his eyebrows as he adds, "how are you feeling?"

She brings up a hand to wave it in front of him, trying to so hard to radiate the nonchalance she wishes she has around her, "I'm fine, really. Just have to deal with a few bruises and little nausea that's all!” When she found Akihito glaring at the IV tube that is stuck on the back of her hand, she just knows in that instant moment that she has to say something to convince him, "look, this tube probably means danger to you right now, but really, this just helps me to gain the appropriate food I need to consume, nothing worse," she brings up a hand to caress his cheek lovingly, "I'm fine, you trust me don't you?"

"I do, but—", Akihito hesitantly cuts off; covering the hand she has on his cheek as he continues, "—I'm just worried, you know? I couldn't do anything to lessen your pain. I was just able to provide you empty promises, but couldn't actually do it because I am just that undependable."

"Please don't say that," she responds, a frown slowly wins over her thin lips, "I am sure that if you were to have better chances, you would save me before those men could even touch me. There's really nothing that could have been done."

Before Akihito can even respond, she races him, "And the fault is probably on me; I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about the whole affair sooner."

That shuts Akihito up for awhile. He glues his eyes to stare at her and tries to figure her out; to understand the real feeling his friend was feeling the moment she bit those words out. Kanata bites the inside of her cheek hesitantly as she thinks, her eyebrows furrow deeply as she says, "I was... kind of afraid you would leave me... if you knew about this," she points to her still thin belly, "you know, it's kind of embarrassing to be with a woman with a condition like this—"

"No!" Akihito cuts her words off swiftly, his hands immediately searching for hers, "I would never, ever leave you; not like this—never because of this," he locks eyes with hers then and all of the sudden all she can focus on is the imaginary fire that dances just behind those hazel eyes, the determination within him is blatantly shown for the world to see. Kanata covers her mouth then, and it is against her will when a sob escaped her soft lips; weak, but still audible to Akihito. She throws her body onto the man beside her and cries silently; her body trembles slightly with emotions that seem to overwhelm her.

The blond respectively puts both hands around her and calms her down with soft pats, both on her shaking back and slightly unsettled hair. He places his lips onto her forehead then, and as the heat of the action alone spreads to every part of her organs, she finally feels like she is loved.

They stay there for a few more minutes before the female patient slowly pulls back, her sobs cease and is now replaced by silent hiccups. She raises her head to show him just enough emotion that settles inside her eyes, and Akihito mentally nods before stretching a calming, and enchanting smile just below his nose.

The expression the man showed her halts her breathless for a minute, and after quiet some time, she says, out of the blue, "I wonder why I haven't fallen in love with you by now." Akihito's smile fades slowly before his eyes widen, showing the perfect comical face he can ever muster. Kanata can only let out a heartfelt laugh, which feels like a really long time since she ever let one out.

Minutes pass before they even knew it and they suddenly grow silent again, both enjoying the silent treatment the other person is giving them. Kanata nonchalantly plays with the tube that's plastered on the back of her hand, watching as the liquid flows out from the bag and into her system, before speaking, her eyes casted downwards calmly, "I don't plan on having an abortion."

Akihito raises his eyes then, hazel filled with curiosity which he can't hold in, "you don't?"

"I don't," she echoes, as if it was something as light as replying a 'how do you do' to her speaking partner, "I don't know, the thought of actually killing the baby just doesn't sit right with me,"

The blond presses his ears to listen, his eyes focus on the lips that are about to open up once again to form the words, "It's not like I'm keeping the child for that businessman's sake—God knows just how much I hate that jerk," she breathes, her mouth pulls into a pout, "but when I thought about this awhile back... This accident actually doesn't have anything to do with the child in my belly. He—he is innocent in any way, he doesn't do anything wrong regarding the situation I fell into," she relaxes her expression as she adds, "and therefore, I kind of not have the right to take the little baby's life, right?"

Akihito can only nod, and he is kind of glad when his female friend shows a complete satisfaction at his silent agreement.

She looks away from a moment, before saying, "Do you think I would be a good parent?"

"You will be the best parent." Akihito answers with a smile, his eyes showering down so much warmth onto her that she starts to believe the answer her friend gave him.

The blond watches her as she gets back to play with her hair; her fingers softly and slowly run through the brown strands that cup her face lovingly. It is kind of a sudden when he remembered something, and he can't really hold himself from blurting the question that has been plaguing in his mind for awhile, "Do you know the man that waits in front of the door?", he points his forefinger towards the door to emphasize the question, and his female friend seems to have succeed on understanding it.

Kanata puts a knuckle to support her jaw, her eyes running towards the white ceiling above their heads in an attempt to recall, "You mean, Suoh - san?"

"I think so..." Akihito mumbles under his breath, realizing just then that he hasn't actually known his name, "the giant with sunglasses and short-chopped hair?” he describes, just for clarification.

"Yeah, that's him," Kanata nods, her expression soon changes into one of those confused ones, "he was the one who brought me into this hospital, and he is also the one in charge in looking after me while I am treated here," she pauses then, "it confuses me greatly to find out that he doesn't want to accompany me in this room. It's kind of boring to always rest on the bed without having someone to talk to you, you know?"

At that, it is Akihito's turn to get confused, "Really? But he said you are scared of looking at him and therefore he prefers to wait for you outside."

"That's bullshit," she lets out speechlessly, a hint of disbelief layering her voice as she continues, "Besides, why would I be scared of him? Firstly, he was the one who brought me here and secondly, he treats me kindly throughout yesterday.", at the end of her speech, the brunette lets a smile wins over her face, her eyes lit up with untold memories that seem to bring happiness to her mind. Akihito watches her as she did just that, and suddenly there is just this thing that urges him to dig the entire story between them— _soon_ , he muses silently.

They spend some more time enjoying the company of each other until Akihito remembers some school papers that he has to do, unfortunately due tomorrow. With a heavy heart, he stands from the comfortable hospital bed and hugs his friend goodbye, promising that he will visit her soon enough.

It doesn't take long for the blond teacher to finally find his way throughout the short distance towards the door to be out of the room, the white door behind him closed with a comfortable silence as the burden that has plagued his mind for the past few days regarding his friend has finally been lifted up. He closes both of his eyes as the feeling of joy washes over him; his chest expands with an overwhelming amount of relief because finally, after the longest time, he can finally feel at ease.

The peace he feels, however, is soon cut off by an enormous aura of another presence that suddenly fills the entire corridor it jolts Akihito enough to work his hazel eyes open.

Akihito swears something abnormal happens to the every organ in his body, for instance—he can feel his heart does a back flip, no, maybe two back flips, or maybe more. What's more, he can feel his skin crawls with goose bumps, his lungs stop taking oxygen, and his pupils seem to forget how to work correctly, for he finds his eyes widening for no coherent reason. _No coherent reason_ , he thinks, as he is standing before Asami Ryuuichi.

The man stands in front of him so tall and proud he can almost feel himself shrinking to little mushrooms. Asami looks as impeccable as ever, not a single strand of hair seems amiss about his appearance. His sharp golden eyes stare at him as they stay in silence, his mouth pulls into a usual arrogant smirk that he seems to do instead of a smile. The blond finally has the power to straighten up his stance and he immediately runs his hazel eyes towards the golden ones—totally regretting the action soon after because that obviously doesn't help with the uncontrollable beating of his own heart.

Asami watches him intently for a minute before finally shoving a paper into his direction, the position of his hand seems to silently insist the blond to look at its direction. Akihito slowly manages himself as he sets his eyes on the foreign paper; apparently his temporarily shocked brain can't really digest what the words in it say. Quiet desperately, Akihito runs his eyes back to him, silently asking an explanation regarding the paper he just gave to him.

Asami only lets out a chuckle before finally deciding to end the silent game. He pulls the paper back to him, his golden eyes nonchalantly go back to the paper to scan its content, before his mouth opens, words that Akihito cannot really decipher came out from it, "This is a letter from Draceana that officially states that you are fired, Takaba."

"Fired?” Akihito echoes, feeling the happiness to start coursing throughout his body. The joy doesn't last long, however, when his curiosity starts to kick in. Hesitantly, he asks, "but how? What about the debt?"

Akihito feels his body slightly flinched under the harsh light of the corridor as a wider smirk sets itself known under the man's sculptured nose, his golden eyes look at him with a knowing smugness that he can't put his fingers over. Swiftly, Asami fishes something out from his breast pocket, and it doesn't take long for him to finally pull out another piece of paper, now slightly smaller than the first one he has shown. His long elegant fingers gently open the paper for the blond to see its content, and he suddenly feels the victory swelling inside of him when the younger man in front of him widens his eyes in disbelief.

"I paid it off," he replies, a smug smirk winning over his handsome face, “with an interest.”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so long to the 'keep up the pace' promise. Honestly, school is hectic, I got to manage a musical theater from school before finally being able to sit in front of my laptop and update. I'm so terribly sorry for the delay.  
> Anyway, I kind of admit that there's nothing really important in this chapter, only an update regarding Kanata's situation, and of course, Akihito's fate (lol?) I hope this chapter worth your wait
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd.

It is quiet rare for Hana to find herself swimming in the sea of darkness, her body motionlessly swaying whichever way the current leads her to. Despite the fact that dark usually scares her out, the gentle current that seems to cradle her in its embrace actually eases her nervousness down, settling her body into a calm state where she can't really find it in her to struggle from its hold. The little girl slowly opens up both of her eyes then, and subsequently sets her vision on the bubble of air that escapes her slightly-opened mouth when she released a breath, oddly finding out that even though she is currently underwater, she can still breath out fine.

She wants to close her eyes again to go back into the slumber she knows she just woke up from, but then dots and dots of yellow light slowly emerges from the pitch darkness, each dots slowly connects with the other, subsequently covering and closing in all the dark areas. The light in each dots start to shine even brighter then, hurting the fragile eyes that rest on Hana's face, coaxing her to reflexively put both arms in defense to protect her sleep-layered corneas. To her chagrin, the yellow light glows even brighter, and it is soon after that that she finds herself waking up on her big, purple canopy bed.

Bundles of thick blankets are layered on top of her small body, wrapping her in a gentle, warm embrace that seems strong enough to keep her in bed, but still loose enough to let her wiggle her way out of the bed. Her half-lidded eyes run to her side and there she discovers the existence of her familiar big, fluffy purple teddy bear, which she has indeed put beside her to sort of accompanying her sleeping through the night. She picks the bear wordlessly and hugs it tight, all the while running her eyes towards every corner of her room. It is kind of a habit for her every morning—just inspecting the difference between her room that very morning and her room the night before, if there is any.

Rays of soft sunlight makes its way inside the room, enlightinening the slightly dimmed environment and high-lightnening all of the things that reside in it. Hana suspects the light for waking her up and she immediately turns her head towards the source, towards the big, double window at the left side of the large room, before finally discovering something amiss that wasn't in her room the night before.

There stands right before the window is her blond teacher; his blond colored hair seems to blend fitfully with the soft light that comes from the outside. His back is facing her, thus he probably doesn't realize that she has woken up. For a moment, Hana just stays there, eyes still half-lidded and her mouth opens agape dazedly, all the while thinking all the possible reasons as to why her teacher is here in her room. Still covered in sleep and not fully woken up yet, she gives up on figuring it out herself and therefore chooses to approach and ask the adult herself.

The soft carpet that's under her effectively muffles the sound of her footsteps, and maybe that is why Akihito still hasn't realized the little girl movements even until she reaches the spot just behind him. Not quiet hesitantly, Hana reaches out for the lowest hem of his shirt while subsequently opens up her mouth, her throat feels a little dry when she croaked out his name, "Aki - sensei?"

The mentioned man flinches immediately and it kinds of shock her to full alertness when he suddenly turned around to face her, a hand reflexively placed right above his left chest as he stares wide eyed towards his offender, "oh, Hana - chan," he relaxes then, before slowly crouching down to match her eye-level, "I was just about to wake you up."

Hana watches as a smile is stretched below his nose, his dimples subsequently appear on both of his cheeks thanks to the push of the muscle of his mouth. His eyes lit up warmly he sets his eyes upon her, and it kind of leaves her breathless when a warm palm is put on top of her head. After several soft ruffles, Hana finally hears a voice that she later recognizes as her own, "why are you here?” she asks, too quiet and too breathless to her liking.

At that, Akihito only scratches the back of his head with one finger before standing up, his eyes running anywhere but at her, "Well, that is kind of hard for me to tell...", his voice starts to trail off, and at the suspicious face Hana throws at him seconds later, he hastily adds, "w–why don't you go out and greet your uncle first?"

Despite her suspicions, Hana obliges, trotting towards the door whilst holding onto her purple teddy bear, casting wary side glances towards the blond teacher that follows her slowly from behind. Once in front of the door, the little girl expertly reaches up for the doorknob before pulling it down and pulling the door opened, feeling the surge of pride rushing through her immediately at the achievement of the greatest door opener she knows she deserves.

The door opens up with an audible sound of creak and all she can actually focus on is the massive figure of her black-haired uncle who is currently sitting on his favorite chair at the dining table, his right hand slowly bringing up a cup of seemingly hot coffee while the other provides him a better view of a business headline news on the newspaper. Those sharp golden eyes immediately run towards her, and Hana suddenly finds the atmosphere around him a little bit different than usual.

Sure, the older man still keeps his face stern and aloof (not that she's expecting him to smile, anyway), but there is this easy aura dancing around him; the usual gloom and tensed air that she used to breathe in in the morning seems to have dissipated into the thin air. Something like peace and warm shines in those golden orbs, telling her more than she has to know that her uncle is currently in a good mood—for what reason, she really doesn't know. Hana furrows her eyebrow confusedly, her mouth turns into a frown displeasingly as she senses that something is actually going on but these cold-hearted adults seem to not have the heart to actually share the information with her. _Adults and their secrets_ , she sighs internally.

"Good morning, uncle," she says softly while closing in the distance between her and Asami, her little feet slowly bring her to that one spot specifically beside her uncle. She stands beside him with her eyes casted upwards, her both hands hugging the teddy to her chest tightly. Asami respectively puts a hand on top of her head then, ruffling the black strands of hair softly in an attempt to reply her greeting. At the end of the tiny ministration, Hana braces herself as her curiosity gets the better of her, "uncle, why is Aki - sensei he—"

"Hana - chan, do you want pancake for breakfast?", Akihito effectively cuts her off with his loud chirping, his voice soon followed by his own presence as he emerges from the dark corridor that leads to Hana's bedroom. Flipping her head towards his direction, Hana frowns at the realization that her teacher has unintentionally (or is it intentional?) cut her question, leaving it unanswered for the second time that morning. She is about to open up her mouth to protest, but then the sound of her stomach grumbling below her head immediately silences her up. Her irritation doesn't really ease down when she barely heard her uncle (seemingly) chuckling at her misfortune.

Hana sulks a bit as she takes her seat on the opposite side of her uncle, but she doesn't argue much when a plate of pancake was respectively shoved towards her direction, accompanied by a warm smile that seems to be too reluctant to leave the blond's face. Despite her seemingly bad mood, she still waits patiently as Akihito subsequently pours down the syrup that totally matches the taste of the pancake, silently questioning Akihito's knowledge of her taste buds.

She doesn't really care about all of that, however, when she took the first bite of the warm pancake her teacher has provided her. Her eyes roll to the back of her head as she tastes her breakfast; the sweetness of the pancake immediately spoils all of her taste buds. Being used to have plain bread for breakfast, Hana can actually enjoy having a sweet pancake for once, or maybe twice, if it's okay with her teacher of course.

Akihito watches delightfully at his student as she feasts on his simple breakfast, his smile widens slightly at the sight of her truly enjoying his cooking. He lets out a content sigh as he pours another shot of black coffee into Asami's mug, realizing a little bit later that he has indeed been stared at for some quiet time now. Confused, Akihito can't really hold in the desire to ask, "What are you staring at?"

"You," Asami answers simply. His smirk widens when he caught Akihito flinches under his voice, "you are probably the first person I have ever met that can smile throughout the time a kid eats her breakfast."

"Why not?” Akihito lets out a pout, feeling quiet insulted by Asami's words earlier, "she enjoys the food I cooked. What's other reason to be happy other than being someone else's reason to be happy?"

Surprisingly, Akihito watches as Asami grows silent at his answer, suddenly feeling the undeniable surge of pride rushing through his spine at the thought of actually tongue-tying Asami with words alone. The blond stares at the man, for longer than necessary apparently, and it takes him by surprise when another smirk was slowly curved onto the man's lips, his golden eyes staring back at him amusingly as if a mischief idea has just popped up inside his head (which most likely is).

The blond honestly isn't fully prepared when a hand suddenly reached out towards his waist, circling it effectively before finally pulling him towards its owner. Akihito cannot really deny the sudden back flip his heart did somewhere beneath his chest as he is finally stuck so close to the older man, the heat of his body seeping through the white dress shirt he has worn for work towards the thin polo shirt the blond is currently wearing. Akihito's lithe body cannot really stand the massive force Asami used against him and therefore he it is kind of embarrassing when he found his body tumbling down over Asami's sitting figure; his hands reflexively shoot out from both of his sides towards the older man's shoulders to hold himself from actually falling over him. When the fall has finally been anticipated, the blond finds his face closing onto Asami's, his hazel eyes staring straight into a pair of mesmerizing golden orbs.

His eyes immediately focus on the golden specks that color his irises—his corneas gleam in an enticing way that seems to paralyze him completely. Akihito finds it a lot endearing when he saw his own reflection on Asami's eyes, the color pink is briefly seen dusting across his face in an adoring way. He can't really help it when his pupils run down through the other man's handsome face, down the smooth track of his perfectly sculptured nose to the low dip of his small cupid bow's that's forming his lips, his heart hammers loudly against his ribcage when a pink tongue slowly peeked out from the inside of the mouth to wet the lips he is currently inspecting. Akihito tightens the hold he has on both of Asami's shoulders when he felt his breath hitches in his throat, his chest feels painfully full while his stomach churns with heat and escaped butterflies. The blond feels himself stiffening up when the pair of lips that's beneath him slowly curled into a smirk—the fact that Asami endearingly leans upwards to close the remaining distance between them also cannot really help him to actually control his own body.

Akihito subconsciously flutters his eyes closed at the silent invitation, and all of a sudden all he can focus on in the darkness of his vision is the loud thudding of his own heart, his lips briefly ache with the need to be touched completely. The blond almost gets himself wasted on Asami's lips when a high-pitched voice stops his movement, the all too familiar voice seemingly coming from the opposite side of the dining table.

"Aki - sensei?” Hana calls and Akihito immediately pushes himself away from the bigger figure that's holding him tight by the waist beneath him. Without even looking at himself in the mirror, Akihito is pretty sure that his face must be red by now, judging by the unbearable heat that's currently claiming his whole face right at the moment—he can feel it even to the very tips of his ears. She doesn't really help his flustered condition when she insensitively added, "What were you doing with uncle?"

"Uh–um–that—", Akihito feels his own tongue numbing, all ability to speak seems to have vanished from the very core of his brain. It embarrasses Akihito even further when a minute passes silently without any answer going around, and his heart cannot really take it anymore when he finally exchanged silent side glances with Asami to ask him for help.

Golden eyes clash with hazel ones and Asami immediately receives and understands his message. With a low smirk, the older man takes over the conversation swiftly with the authority that's clearly oozing from his voice like toxic, "Hana, why don't you finish your breakfast and prepare yourself to go to school? Uncle Suoh will pick us up in a minute." Hana is about to continue her (once again) cut-off question until a sharp dominant gaze is suddenly sent to her direction, zipping up her lips completely as she swallows down the unanswered questions.

Akihito watches the silent banter within the family and he immediately glares at the way Asami seems to have silenced her up with his penetrating gaze, which for him, is kind of inappropriate to actually shut a kid up. As Hana gets off her seat to go back to her room, Akihito takes his time to swiftly take the finished plates on the dining table, using his timing perfectly to land a hard pinch on Asami's bicep as he walks by. The older man winces a little bit as he runs his eyes towards his offender, in which he is warmly welcomed by a sensual swaying of the most rounded butt he has ever seen, unfortunately walking further away from his view as it disappears within the kitchen. He licks his upper lip at that, suddenly feeling that the pinch is all worth it.

Approximately 30 minutes later, Akihito finds Hana slouching over the couch in the living room, her eyes constantly glued onto the bright television that is seemingly showing the latest episode of a cartoon that seems to be her favorite, judging by the exciting twinkle that gleams in her rounded eyes as she stares at the white bunny that hops excitedly while holding a basket of red, rounded strawberries. The blond slowly smiles as he subsequently starts approaching her, his feet almost tip-toes in an attempt to actually surprise her.

Akihito almost jumps off of his own skin when a familiar baritone voice suddenly rang from behind him, the tone that is used within the voice doesn’t sound too amused to his liking, “Hana, why are you still watching cartoons? We have to go now,” the blond swiftly turns his head around to find Asami, all smooth and polished from head to toe, obviously ready to start his day working. He watches as those sharp eyebrows sink even deeper when the little girl only turned her head meekly towards him, her eyes show the silent rebellion that doesn’t look that strong to match the authority the older man has within her.

The blond inspects the sudden tension in the thin air and decides to cut in, “Why so early? It’s still 7 o’clock,” Akihito presses in, his feet brings him closer towards Asami while his hands fold themselves in front of his chest defensively, “the class won’t start until 9. She still has time to catch her cartoon.”

“But we have to go now so that we can go together,” Asami argues, stepping the remaining distance between them to look at the smaller man right in the eye, “It’s always been like that in the mornings. If she doesn’t go now, how can she go to school?”

“I can walk her to school,” the blond fumes, “we are going to the same place, anyway, so you don’t have to bother driving her to school, just for your information.”

At the defiance the blond is showing to him, Asami unconsciously smirks, totally enjoying every banter they have just in one morning. Smirking, he slowly slides both hands into his pockets and chuckles lowly, turning his eyes towards Hana that’s been watching them silently from the comfortable couch, “so? Do you want to go now with me or go later with Aki – sensei?”

Hana is silent for a moment but it is kind of obvious from the look of her eyes that she is more in Akihito’s favor. With a hesitant voice, she speaks, “I will walk with Aki – sensei later. I can, right?”

Akihito whips his head back towards Asami and grins widely, his hazel eyes burning with undeniable pride with victory at the fact that his favorite little girl just chose him over her own uncle. His smile doesn’t last that long when suddenly a hand shot out from before him, swiftly and silently reaches out to circle his waist all the while bringing him closer towards its owner.

Once again, Akihito finds himself glued onto Asami and it is kind of annoying when his heartbeat paced up again beneath his chest, slowly heating up his body temperature with the tremendous amount of blood it is pumping per second. He reflexively shoots a confused look towards him, his hazel eyes immediately locking with golden ones as he did so. Before he even knew it, Asami’s face has lunged forward towards his right ear with his lips perfectly positioned just beside his ear. Akihito involuntarily shivers as it opens up to speak, warm breath comes out along the words that is layered in deep, silky baritone voice that automatically turns his feet to jellies, “You are spoiling her too much.”

“You are spoiling her too little,” Akihito argues, despite the uncomfortable churn in his stomach that makes it kind of difficult for him to let out words to respond, “now I know why she seems too mature for her own good.”

Asami pulls back at that, his golden eyes inspecting every nooks and crannies and edges of Akihito’s face as he replies, “Isn’t being mature a good thing?”

Akihito frowns, “Not for her age.”

“You sound like a mother.”

“If that’s what she needs to be what she really is, I _will_ _be_ her mother.”

Surprise and shock is immediately etched on Asami’s handsome face at that, but he immediately covers it all up before the blond could catch it. With a chuckle, the older man responds, rather boldly, “then, so be it.”

Before Akihito can respond, a pair of familiar lips suddenly covers his, barricading and preventing any words that are supposed to come out from spilling out, blanking out any rational thoughts that’s within the blond’s mind earlier to pure whiteness. Akihito automatically closes his eyes as Asami kisses him, his heart beating painfully in its ribcage as seconds ticked by in the clock. Something that resembles fireworks suddenly explode within his brain and the blond suddenly feels a little too dizzy for comfort, his hands reflexively crawling up the other man’s back for preventing him from actually falling down to his knees from the dizziness that eats up his brain.

To his surprise (and chagrin), Asami finally breaks the kiss by pulling away, though his hands seem a little bit hesitant to let go of the lithe body that’s in them for the moment. The older man watches Akihito beneath him, his eyes still closed tightly while his lips left agape in the aftermath of the kiss. He watches as the color of the freshest red rose rides its way up throughout the blond’s face—across his cheekbones, and even to the very tips of his perky ears. He also watches as Akihito slowly opens up both of his clear hazel irises, his pupils immediately focusing on his curled-up lips that are forming his usual, trademark smirk below his nose. Akihito slowly opens up his mouth to speak, but feels the mortification seeps into him as his voice comes out as a weak squeak, “what’s that for?”

“A good bye kiss,” Asami answers simply, “and also a good luck kiss you know, for work,” and at that, the older man swiftly gives him a peck just beside his lips (totally catching him off guard) before finally letting go of the smaller body that feels too comfortable in his arms.

Akihito can only silently watch as the man disappears behind the door, leaving the penthouse opened for the both of them to catch on with his whatever-it-is job. The blond tilts his head to one side, a single memory silently seeping into his brain as he recalls yesterday’s event.

_“A nanny?”_

_“Yes,” Asami answers, folding his hands across his broad chest as he adds, “you will be in charge of taking care of Hana starting from tomorrow morning. That’s all you have to do to pay off all your debts on me.”_

The blond brings up both of his palms to cover his face and sighs heavily. The offer sounds too good to be pure, and he admits that he didn’t really think twice about it before finally accepting the offer in one breath.

_If by being a nanny means accepting all of his perverted ministrations, I should have thought a little bit harder about this from the start,_ Akihito muses silently as a new day taking care of this family starts before him.

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fluff starts now! (I think?) welp, that's all I could write for you for this chapter. I hope this update could add up more to the story in your opinion:)  
> I think I should get back on doing my homework-teachers nowadays are so scary in giving homework //gives a pat my own back//  
> I hope you enjoy this!
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

Akihito watches as the seconds tick away in the wall clock, its sound reverberating throughout the entire spacious penthouse, even to the farthest corner possible. He sighs for the umpteenth time as the clock hits the number eleven, but there is still no sign of Asami coming home any sooner whatsoever.

The blond stands from the dining chair where he sat at and walks towards the dimmed hallway, his hazel eyes gleam in the dark to search for that distant light that he knows is leading him towards a certain bedroom. With careful steps he descends through the corridor, his feet trying their best to not make as many sounds as possible. Despite the carefulness he puts on his walking, it doesn't take him long to finally reach his destination—a purple, cube-shaped bedroom which holds a certain purple canopy bed; a princess is currently sleeping soundly there. The blond stands at the door frame and watches as the little figure sleeps her fatigue away, her body doesn't even move at all except the slight moving of her chest, breathing in the air of life that's surrounding her in her sleep. He stretches out a smile and walks in there, approaching the giant bed and takes a seat right beside Hana, who's totally oblivious to the world. He takes his time to reach on to the black strands of her hair that are slightly out of place, slipping them back to its place carefully as to not wake the girl up.

From the past few days he has been working there, Akihito knows that Hana doesn't usually sleep early. In fact, it is kind of hard to put her to sleep. The very first days he took care of Hana, she would still up and totally awake even until one in the morning, which a non-medical student Akihito knows is bad considering to her still-developing age. She is still too young to know insomnia, or late-sleeping, or whatever. And for that, he is sort of glad when the girl is fast asleep tonight, reaching out to him sleepily in her tired state to ask him to help her getting herself onto bed. They were actually going to the town that day, buying some all-time-favorite fairy tale books at the local library and some copes of ice cream on their way from school that evening. Their little adventure apparently has tired the girl out, but Akihito still thinks it is okay considering that she could fall asleep under ten.

She wrinkles her nose suddenly in her sleep and Akihito immediately moves a hand to ruffle her hair softly in an attempt to calm her down, to bash away whatever it is that's bothering her deep slumber. He lets out a sigh of relief when the girl relaxed her face down seconds later, finding it much adorable when she leaned her head towards the palm that was ruffling her head. He smiles at that then, before finally losing the battle of tingling desire to kiss her forehead. He takes his time gazing at her then, before finally choosing to get out of the room instead, giving her the silent time to spend her precious sleep away.

It is on the way towards the exit that is when something caught his attention at the furthest corner of his vision. He halts his movement then, before slowly turning his head towards the foreign object, his hazel eyes slowly focusing in the shape that he later recognizes as a photo frame. After several seconds of debating with himself, he finally chooses to approach it; changing direction towards the object instead all the while closing in the distance. The closer he gets, the clearer the object becomes. The photo frame is made of light colored wood with soft surface—in it held a photo that seems to be precious. Akihito slowly reaches out towards the wooden photo frame to inspect it, his hazel eyes seem to shine even brighter at the curiosity that resides in them. It has been a few days since he started working as Hana's nanny (as what Asami likes to call it) so he is kind of surprised himself to find the photo frame just then.

Akihito continues his journey exiting the room with the photo frame in his hands, his eyes still glued onto it as if it is the last thing he would have seen in his life. His careful steps guide him into the living room before he even knew it, and it is when his legs bumped against the sofa did he finally let his body fall freely into its comfort.

The photo inside the frame starts to finally be registered to his brains by dots, swirling and filling his head with hypothesizes that he immediately knows that he has to confirm. His fingers start to stroke the glass surface of the frame while his eyes begin to observe; each features that are featured in the picture start talking silently about themselves. In the photo stands a grown-up woman, who has hair as dark as the blackest ebony, and whose skin looks as soft as a baby's skin. Her hair flow freely from the crown of her head and down to her shoulders, the black curls cup her small head lovingly like a mother's cradle. She has her lips stretched in a smile that could lit up the whole town while her eyes stares deep into one's soul, the golden specks that dust her pupils seem to shine brighter than any gold.  Akihito stares back at her as he tries to suck in as many information as he could, the golden eyes seem to trigger something inside his brain but he still couldn't pinpoint what.

The blond is still immersed in his own thoughts until a familiar, probably the deepest baritone voice he has ever heard suddenly creeps into the shell of his ears—the source sounds too close for distance comfort as he is completely jolted out from his silent premises while his thoughts start crumpling down in a jumbled mess, "What are you doing?"

"Asami?!", Akihito reflexively jumps back, one of his hands swiftly cover the left side of his chest that is currently heaving deeply up and down in shock exasperation, "you scared the shit outta me!"

"Well, you seem too focused on something to not even realize my arrival earlier so I think it would be fun to surprise you," the older man answers simply, his words roll off his tongue easily with no guilt detected whatsoever.

His golden eyes inspect the condition of his victim silently yet intently from the very strand of his blond hair to the tip of his pink toes, and something churns briefly in the deepest pit of his stomach as his sharp, hawk-like eyes catch something familiar, "Takaba, what is that?"

"Uh–this?", the blond holds the object in question, his voice falters slightly as he feels he has sort of gone beyond a forbidden line, "I—I found this in Hana's room on my way out and... It kind of ticks my curiosity off so...” he lets his words fade away slowly as he lets his eyes tell the rest. Asami telepathically nods in understanding.

Akihito stays silent as he watches the older man walks away from the sofa to take his coat off his broad shoulders, his eyes widen at the distinct details of the helpless dress-shirt that seems too weak to hold in the board-like-shape of whatever inside it, though he quickly brushes off whatever thoughts that start to circle in his mind subconsciously as the object of view suddenly turns his head to smirk, seemingly knowing too well of a pair of eyes that has observed him. The older man swiftly drapes the midnight coat on top of the dining chair as he continues his way towards the kitchenette, fetching a glass of whiskey on rocks like no one's business in a matter of seconds. It doesn't take long for Asami to finally walk back to where Akihito stays; the blond teacher seems to get a little fidgety when the bigger figure starts to grow closer in each big step he takes. The sofa seems to sink a bit deeper as Asami takes his seat on the opposite side, the tumbler held high and proud in his hands as he holds it in front of his lips to drink it.

Akihito watches in silence as the older man finishes his drink in slow sips, his eyes focusing too well on the glittering golden liquid that pours from the glass into the older man's mouth. His heart speeds up automatically as one golden eye starts side glancing to him, a smirk slowly etched on the corner of his lips as he brings the tumbler back down onto his lap. With a clear of a throat, Asami starts, "she was my sister."

"What?” Akihito chokes, not too ready to actually expect Asami to talk right then.

"My sister," the older man repeats, "my little sister."

At that, Akihito slowly brings up the photo frame back to his vision for inspection, his head slowly nods in affirmation, "no wonder she looks familiar," he looks back at Asami then, his eyes still filled with unanswered questions as he voices one of them, "'was'?"

It takes him a moment to answer, "she died,” expressive hazel eyes widen on him as he adds, "two years ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Akihito responds meekly, scooting even closer to close in the distance he was so determined to keep earlier. He places a palm on top of Asami's thigh as he speaks, his eyes lock onto golden ones and suddenly Asami could see the many unshed tears that reside in them, "I—that is very insensitive of me. I'm so sorry."

Asami puts his tumbler on top of the coffee table that stands before them before slowly hauling Akihito on top of him, his hips rest on his lap comfortingly while his legs straddle both of his own. A gentle palm rests on a small of his back and the blond immediately feels a comfortable warmth spreads from that one spot, its effect branches off to every part of his body quickly—leaving a comfortable tingle dances in the deepest part of his stomach. Another hand reaches out to caress his face and Akihito suddenly finds it hard not to cry, the golden eyes that stare deep into him seem to suck every emotions out of him dry.

"It's okay," Asami speaks soothingly, "you didn't know about it."

"But it's kind of sad, you know?" Akihito counters, his voice shakes with overwhelming emotions that seem to swell and choke him uncomfortably in his chest, "losing a family—I know how that feels and it's sad to watch other people experience it."

At that, Akihito lunges forward to bury his face into the comfortable warmth that is Asami's chest, his body trembling slightly as Asami finally closes his hands to hug him. They stay like that for awhile, indulging themselves in comfortable silence as the time ticks away in the clock, counting in the minutes and the seconds of them together in each other's presence, silently letting the night passes away in slow motion. Asami places a hand on the blond's back as he seems to sink in even deeper, the younger man's once motionless hands slowly reach out to circle Asami's wide neck to embrace him back.

The comforting silence is soon broken by Asami's deep voice; it speaks softly yet lowly directly into Akihito's ears, making the recipient shivers slightly in respond, "do you want to know another thing about her?"

The teacher doesn't show any indication that he wants to speak his answer out, but Asami confirms a nod as his permission to go on, "she was also Hana's mother," as Akihito slowly brings up a pair of tearful eyes towards him, Asami adds, "solely, one and only, biological mother."

"Oh my God, no," Akihito shakes his head several times slowly, before finally letting out the tears that have been held in for what felt like a decade to fall freely down his pink cheeks, "not her. Hana?” he chokes, "not her—"

"I know right; not her, obviously," Asami pulls his head back onto his chest for comfort, "I don't want to accept it either; to find Hana motherless–no, that's just something that I never want," he pulls Akihito back to look him in the eye, and something suddenly pricks him painfully in his left chest as the blond sobs softly on top of him, "hey, don't cry."

Asami puts a hand underneath his chin to clasp his face in his hold, his golden eyes locking painfully into hazel ones as the ugly tears keep streaming down his cheeks, tainting the cheerful face he knows was once there just a moment ago. Akihito tries to calm himself but alas, a few hiccups still dare to escape him, unconsciously worrying the older man even further.

The older man pulls his chin down towards him then, before slowly lunging forward to land soft kisses on each of Akihito’s eyelids, silently wishing for the tears to go away. Akihito closes his eyes when Asami drew even closer, his breath came out a little bit shaky when those lips touched his heated skin soothingly as if calming a crying baby. His heart speeds up when Asami moved down to kiss his cheeks, right and left, before finally landing the final kiss on his trembling lips, his moist and warm breath leaving pleasurable tingles in its wake. Akihito opens up his eyes then, and suddenly the sadness he felt earlier is gone completely when he looked at Asami.

Asami looks at him with the passion and lust drawn completely obvious in both of his eyes, the golden irises seem to have grown amber from the molten desire they keep inside them. But more than that, Akihito sees something else; something like want—need.

Something like—adoration.

Akihito doesn’t really have the time to think about it when the older man suddenly pounced on him, placing his hands tightly around Akihito’s lithe body before slowly leaning him down to lay on the sofa with his bigger body hovering over him, his lips ghosting over Akihito’s before subsequently starting to attack them. The blond thinks he might have gone crazy when he decided numbly to pull the man even closer, his lips searching and desperately trying to kiss the man back with (hopefully) the same kind of passion.

Asami is frantic—he is not like himself. He kisses Akihito like a madman; like there’s no tomorrow. He kisses Akihito desperately like a hungry man that hasn’t eaten for years, and Akihito’s plump lips are like the only food source he found for the moment and he immediately grows to crave for it. Akihito is kind of afraid he cannot keep up—cannot actually be ready and there to satisfy Asami’s needs and that the older man would eventually get tired of him. But the vigorous way Asami uses in attacking him actually doesn’t give any space in his mind to think, so he eventually gives up in thinking more about it.

It felt like a decade when Akihito finally pulled back because of the lack of air, though his hands still haven’t let go of the broad back that covers him entirely, his nails scratching just a little bit of the fabric of Asami’s million dollar dress shirt. Asami pulls back a little, just enough to look him in the eye, before opening his mouth to speak, his voice came out deep and raw with desire, “you are the first person that cries for me and for my family,” he pauses, all the while searching for the reaction or respond that is probably hidden beneath those hazel orbs, “you are precious, Takaba.”

Akihito feels his entire being glowing with undeniable happiness when Asami came down to him to kiss him again, his mouth and his hands touching him at all the right places leaving Akihito singing praises to the heaven above. With one, gentle scoop, the older man raises Akihito off the sofa easily, before hurryingly carrying him all the way from the living room to the master bedroom, his heavy footsteps echoing in the silent corridor and suddenly Akihito can literally feel his heart thudding louder and louder with each steps committed, his body and his mind ringing with anticipation of what’s about to come.

Asami does it so easily, so effortlessly like no one’s business. He shoves the door open with one hand and locks it up with the same hand, all the while still holding Akihito up on his chest while his mouth busying itself kissing him fervently. Akihito looks at him with admiration as he dominantly does everything for him, while on the other hand all he can focus on at the moment is Asami and his charming authority.

It doesn’t take long for him to finally be put on the soft mattress of the king sized bed that dominates the whole room with Asami hovering over him; his strong, calloused palms digging into the duvet all the while trapping him completely in his territory, not giving any space for him to escape—not that he wants to.

They stay like that for awhile in silence, mouths gapping open in an attempt to suck in the loss of air, all the while staring deep into each other’s eyes like they are the last thing they would ever remember. Akihito watches as the predator eyes above him draw into small slits, the color of a once gold turn darker, closing into black in a matter of seconds. Asami looks overwhelmed, worn out, but the slight movements of fingers that are buried deep beside his head tell him otherwise; the older man is indeed still high and ready to go.

Akihito slowly reaches out a hand to caress the man on his chin, up to rest his palm on his cheek to feel the slight stubble that graces his handsome face. The blond then subsequently heaves himself up with Asami’s shoulders as his support to plant another kiss on his lips, which somehow switches on whatever button it is in him that can suddenly makes Asami moves. With each seconds passed, Akihito pushes his way in, slowly yet surely switching their position so that the older man is now beneath him, once again resting his hips on the man’s lap, his feet straddling him.

Akihito closes his eyes and tilts his head to one side as he deepens the already deep kiss, his tender fingers drawing sensual circles underneath Asami’s earlobes to give the older man just as much sensation as what he receives from him. The blond feels his blood speed up inside his veins when he felt a pair of strong palms suddenly grips him on his hips—the rough, calloused fingers digging into his sides painfully tight he is almost sure they would leave small marks through the protection of his jeans. Akihito honestly can’t really handle all the pleasurable sensations that ride up his whole body as he slowly gives in; he throws his whole body onto Asami by subsequently grinding into him, silently asking and begging for him to touch him more.

The older man unsurprisingly complies willingly. Without any further command, he slides his hands onto both of Akihito’s ass cheeks and squeezes at them tightly, drawing a beautifully harmonized moan from the blond’s plump lips as he lets go of his lips to lose himself on his touches. Akihito jerks his head upwards as his eyes roll to the back of his head in pleasure, and Asami uses it to full advantage to attack him right on his supple neck when it was finally served to his naked eye. Akihito lets out a groan when he felt a set of sharp teeth abuse him on his neck, slowly yet surely drawing purple marks on his white skin that he is sure as hell would be visible tomorrow morning but he can’t really find it in him to actually care. Because every time Asami takes him time to touch him, Akihito literally just loses all kind of rationality.

When Asami finally pulled back, Akihito wastes no time to move his fingers to work on the buttons on his dress shirt, slowly revealing the tan skin which has haunted him since the first night they made out together. The blond lets his palm rest on a naked chest as he feels the comforting beating of a heart underneath Asami’s left chest, each beat assuring him that Asami is here and that he is feeling what they are doing like him as well. At one moment, Akihito raises his vision from his chest to his handsome face, hazel eyes looking at him as if asking for permission, and before he even speaks out whatever it is he has in his mind when he was looking at Akihito, the blond has advanced to kiss the small scar he has on his left chest, the trembling lips embrace it so gently like a mother’s kiss.

Akihito kisses him like he is so fragile; he kisses him with a bunch of emotions that a supposedly heartless man like him cannot really decipher what.

Akihito raises his head to lock eyes with him once again and Asami cannot really hold in the desire to push him down once again when he saw that look—the look like he is _everything_. 

The blond lets out a surprise yelp when he was once again pushed against the bed, his hands trapped in one large palm above his head as he is once again kissed mind-numbingly by probably the most forceful lips that have ever touched his. It takes him by surprise when suddenly a set of warm fingers slide underneath his shirt, sliding and crawling on his skin sensually that makes his skin explodes with exciting goose bumps. Akihito voices out a moan against the kiss when the fingers crawl upper and upper to touch his chest; its calloused surface brushes ever so slightly on the nub of one of his nipple and the blond actually believes that he can cum in his pants. Unbeknownst to him, Asami looks at him longingly as he continues his ministration, each expressions Akihito shows to him regarding his touches seem to swell his pride even more.

It doesn’t take them long to finally be naked to each other’s eyes, Akihito still on the bottom while Asami take on the top. The blond has now shut his eyes altogether as Asami plays with his anal entrance, his rough fingers poking and touching at the pink lips of his entrance just to tease Akihito even more. After the longest moment in his life, the older man finally decides to slide his finger in, one finger at the time, and he is rather pleased when Akihito responded with a long, beautifully, drawn-out moan, even though his voice has grown tired and raw after the many ministrations he receive for the night.

It takes him by surprise when a warm calloused palm suddenly touches his heated cheek, making Akihito slowly flutters his eyes open in silent attention as he tries to focus his eyes on Asami and his intention. Hazel eyes clash with amber ones, and it makes his breath hitched in his throat when Asami spoke, his baritone voice dripping silkily like sin from his mouth it makes Akihito shiver, “don’t close your eyes,” Asami licks his lips lustfully as he drives the finger he has on Akihito’s hole just a little bit deeper, “witness everything that I want to do to you.”

Akihito arches his back as a deft finger suddenly touches that one, tiny spot inside of him correctly, his mouth gapping opened without any voice coming out as his hazel eyes roll backwards in deep ecstasy, his heart seems to have stopped beating for one second to appreciate a moment of pure bliss he is currently feeling at the moment. He immediately comes down from his high when Asami continued his ministrations, pulling and pushing his fingers into the deeper part of his body as if fucking him. Akihito watches with blurry corneas as the man above him does it to his body so perfectly he most likely has lost his mind on those fingers, subconsciously has started to impale himself on those calloused members that know just exactly where to touch him.

Asami prepares him so thoughtfully, spending almost an hour alone just to open up his entrance to welcome his well-known large manhood. The blond doesn’t even try to count how many fingers have entered him and just focus on the feeling Asami gives him; everything feels so right and so wrong but the only thing Akihito knows at the moment is that he wants this—he wants Asami for the umpteenth time of his life.

Everything feels like accomplishment when Asami finally entered him for good— both of his slender legs have been hauled over Asami’s broad shoulders as the older man drives his penis deeper inside him painfully. Despite the hardships, Akihito tries his best to stay focused and wide-eyed, wanting so desperately to see just what expression Asami wears throughout their sexual activity. Those golden eyes surprisingly stay opened and they subsequently lock eyes with each other—Akihito can actually feel the many butterflies escaping their cocoons inside his stomach when those eyes stare at him so deeply, bearing a big hole through his left chest that leaves his heart hammering faster inside his ribcage.

The blond momentarily sees the lips above him open up, seemingly trying to say something, but he is a total goner when his climax washes over him, leaving a pure blankness claiming his whole brain all the while leaving no space for him to think. Warm splutters of cum splashes at the walls of his insides as Asami cum inside him, though a bead of sweat has formed on his forehead, he still looks as handsome, as impeccable as ever.

Akihito lies limply on the bed as he tries to catch on with his ragged breath; his body still twitches slightly at the orgasm he just came down from. It doesn’t take long for the sleepiness to finally catch on to him, and the blond falls asleep with a strong hand vividly reaching around his waist and pulling him closer towards the bigger body that intends to comfort him in his slumber.

 

* * *

 

 

He is woken up by the harsh ray of sunlight that escapes the gap between the curtains and the daily alarm he has set on his phone to wake him up every morning, blaring loudly in a distance that he is not quite sure where. With soreness screaming on every part of his body, Akihito slowly tries to wake up from the comfortable mattress he is currently laying on, and it actually takes him a minute to realize that it is definitely not the one and only hard futon he has in his small apartment for sleeping purposes. Carefully, the blond runs his eyes towards his surrounding, and true to his horror, he is actually not sleeping in his own apartment, and what’s worse is that he is, in fact, sleeping beside Asami, in Asami’s penthouse, throughout the night.

With a muffled scream, Akihito tries to get away from the older man, his hands frantically reaching to pull off the duvet that covers up his lower half so that he can run away, but then a strong arm that wraps around his waist tightly prevents him from going. Despite that, however, Akihito still tries his best to get away, using every ounce of power that he has left in him to pry the strong arm loose. Thanks to that, a pair of golden eyes slowly flutters open to witness him, and before he realized it, Asami has gone totally up and awake and conscious to watch his antics going.

With a slow, sleepy curl of a pair lips, Asami smirks down upon him, greeting, “Good morning.”

Akihito immediately halts his movements as the body beside him slowly moves to sit up, the strong arm that traps him completely still seems too reluctant to let him go just yet. With an exasperated sigh, the blond replies, “Good morning.”

“Why do you seem upset so early in the morning? Didn’t it feel good?” the older man asks with amusement clearly dancing in his eyes, his handsome eyebrow arching ever-so-slightly, feigning confusedness.

The color of a pink chrysanthemum dusts across his face before he even knew it, “No! I—I mean ye—but that’s not the point!”, Akihito huffs grumpily as he folds his arms across his chest, an obvious pout gracing his features as he adds, “I was supposed to go home last night, not spending the night here.”

“I can’t see the problem in that,” Asami comments, a little too thoughtfully than he has expected on the subject, “you are supposed to come here so early every morning so I actually don’t see the point of you going home every night.”

“Well, I’m not a live-in nanny, what can you expect?” the blond argues.

“Then so be it; be a live-in nanny.” At that, Akihito shuts his mouth altogether to actually digest the real meaning of it. He can hear the soft thudding of his own heart as his eyes run towards the other’s face, trying to search for that silent explanations that he doesn’t whether he would hear or not.

It feels like years when Asami finally opened up his mouth to speak, “Takaba,” his ears perk up immediately when his name was mentioned, and he is suddenly sure that the next words that come out from the older man’s mouth would tug at all the strings inside his heart altogether, “move in with me.”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phew! finally managed to finish this chapter off with some scene //wipes off sweat// I hope you enjoy it! even though I still think that it's kind of awkward and a bit passive //hides//  
> and I just randomly put that picture over there just to let you now that I'm still practicing on my drawing (lol?) even though if you look back on my other work where I put my drawings in, you would realize that my style has changed sooo much, haha
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd.

“…and that’s all for today! Good afternoon!”

“Good afternoon, sensei!”, the kids reply him back cheerfully as the bell rings from the distance, blaring the familiar melody throughout the corridors and all the classrooms, indicating that it is the end of yet another school day at the kindergarten.

Akihito watches as his students ever so excitedly pack up their books and put them in their small backpacks, chattering along the way with their friends chirpily with their high-pitched voices that unsurprisingly don’t sound annoying to his ears. He likes seeing his students getting warm with each other’s; he remembers the first time the class was formed and it cringed him down to the core when the girls only wanted to play with the other girls and same went for the boys—even some of them preferred to be alone, for example, Hana.

Speaking of the aforementioned female student, Akihito immediately runs his eyes towards the usual spot where she sits and there he sees her; currently struggling on shoving the last book into her purple backpack all the while so visibly trying hard to ignore the ball of excitement that is also trying to make her talk back to him, Yami. The blond teacher can only chuckle as the young boy chats excitedly beside her, his mouth going on and on about the last holiday that he spent at the beach with his family catching small fishes, in which Hana can only nod away to make him shut up—hopefully (but then, he doesn’t shut up in the end, and Hana can only sigh at that.)

It doesn’t take more than five minutes of that banters to occur for Hana to finally search for him in the middle of the crowd, her dark brown irises seem to blow even wider as she finds what she was looking for. Before Akihito can decipher what she was trying to say to him through the distance, the little girl is already on her way to his spot, heaving her backpack as she stomps off from her (probably?) male friend. Yami, realizing that he was being ignored all this time, immediately set his foot to follow her, his small feet could only hastily catch up to her as she already has a head-start for suddenly walking away from him.

“Aki – sensei!”, she calls him calmly, but the look on her eyes betray her voice as she looks deeply annoyed and anxious, wanting to get out and (probably) get away from the boy (who has been chasing her up to the teacher’s desk) as soon as possible.

Realizing her discomfort, Akihito immediately takes things into his hands, “what is it? Ready to go home?”

Hana tries too hard to not be too enthusiastic as she nods away, her eyes immediately glued back onto Akihito’s as she straightens back her posture.

By then, Yami has already once again reached her side, “Huh… you’re going back with Aki – sensei again today?”

The little girl nods, but still seemingly doesn’t fancy on looking him in the eye. She looks annoyed, and perhaps is already done on having him by her side this whole day.

“What a shame…”, the boy looks down on his two feet, wriggling his toes as he sees his shoelaces start on going loose, “I want to go home with you too someday.”

At that, Hana looks up to meet him in the eye, which can possibly be considered as a bad move as Yami only brightens up as she finally acknowledges him; a wide, toothy smile is stretched below his nose as he smiles towards her, so bright she thinks it can rival the sun, “of course not now! I can’t even go home alone without Mama—oh, there she is!”, he points out.

Just as if on command, Hana reflexively follows where his finger pointed out and her eyes are immediately set upon a sight of probably the brightest woman she ever encountered there.

Yami’s mama—as he has pointed out earlier—looks no more than 30, judging by the absence of wrinkles that most mamas and papas Hana met in the school have. In fact, she has such a beautiful and delicate skin for a mama, and her smile almost blinds her for it was filled with pure sincerity and kindness that she rarely sees. She has her brown hair tied in a messy bun and it jiggles adorably on top of her head as she moves forward, her long steps don’t take too long for her to reach the group, “Good afternoon, Takaba – sensei.”

“Good afternoon,” Akihito replies politely, shuffling a little bit to the side to give her some space to stand beside her son.

As soon as she reaches him, she immediately puts a palm on top of his head affectionately, her eyes crinkled in pure happiness and adoration towards her one and only son as she speaks, voice soft and sweet like melted candy, “have you been good today?”, at that, she ruffles the soft strands of his short-chopped hair slowly.

Yami looks up to meet her in the eyes, and shortly after, another bright smile that matches her replies hers, twinkle of stars that shine an equal amount of adoration gracing his small rounded pupils as he sets his vision upon her. A healthy color of red soon colors the area around his cheeks as he responds, “of course! You owe me ice cream today, ma!”, he giggles excitedly, before running off towards the exit, glancing behind a little bit through his shoulder as he shouted, “bye Aki – sensei, bye Hana – chan!”

“Careful sweetie!”, his mom half-yells in warning as she sees him running through the corridor, already worried about him tripping his own feet and falls, “Then, excuse us now, Aki – sensei. Thank you for today!”, she runs her eyes to his side only to be met with a much shorter girl clinging onto his foot, her brown eyes shooting some hidden emotions that she could not really decipher, “see you tomorrow, Hana – chan.”

They watch as the older woman turns on her heels and walks away, probably a bit hastily to catch on with Yami who is worryingly already nowhere in sight. Hana could only sigh as she imagines what it feels like to take care of a kid as energetic and as annoying as him. When the thought actually irritates her more, she shakes up her head and turns her full attention on the blond teacher beside her.

“Sensei,” she starts, successfully earning his attention, “let’s go home.”

Akihito crouches slowly to match her eyelevel, a frown that could only be describe as confusion is etched obviously on his face, “huh? You don’t want to go anywhere today?”

She shakes her head, clutching at the slings of her bag a little tighter to emphasize her wish to go home.

What replies her back is a thoughtful hum and a tilt of his head towards the ceiling, his hazel eyes run towards the ceiling fan as if he is deep in thought, “if so…”, he brings his eyes back on her, a sincere smile plastering below his nose, “do you want to accompany me?”

It catches her a bit off-guard by the sudden request, but then she quickly regains her composure as to not let him know that he surprises her. _I mean, it’s rare for Aki – sensei to ask for my help…_ she muses internally.

Akihito watches with much amusement as she blatantly has a debate with her own self, about what, he doesn’t really know—but he suggests that she might be contemplating on accepting or refusing his favor. Either what would come after, he only smiles down at her, waiting rather patiently until whatever that is inside her head clears up.

It doesn’t take a moment longer though for the small girl to suddenly looks up, her eyes twinkling with what he recognizes as happiness though it is obvious that she is trying to school her face back to aloofness, “sure… why not?”, when Akihito starts smiling even wider, she adds, rather hastily, “I mean, it’s only natural, cuz you always accompany before. I’m just returning the favor!”, the last line was added in a slightly higher pitch as if she was afraid he would catch it the wrong way.

Though Akihito sees it as her being all tsundere. He chuckles, “of course, thank you.” He is beaming with even more happiness as a tint of red slightly colors her cheeks, and an avert of a pair of brown eyes was what replied him next.

Deciding to not tease her any further, he immediately takes her hand in his and starts guiding her to the exit, down to the road, and gone by the crowd.

 

* * *

 

 

When Akihito asks her to accompany him that day, he really meant for her to accompany him to go everywhere that day.

She realized this as his hand leads her to various places, the bookstore (he says he wants to buy new pens for school because he keeps losing them to some unknown forces—though Hana knows that he is just being clumsy), the crowded street, and she is left in a daze when suddenly they have arrived in yet another place, a flower shop.

Hana recognizes it immediately when a sight of many types of flowers she doesn’t know the name of greets them just as they are stepping into the shop. She is not keen on flowers but she has to admit that they look like they are being treated well—the petals look soft and fresh with dews.

The sound of bell chiming wakes her up from her own thoughts as they walk even further into the shop, witnessing even more flowers in various colors and sizes stacked in shelves and pots; it is like a small garden.

Akihito immediately proceeds on looking through the flowers and she can’t help but ask, “sensei, who are you buying this flowers for?”

“For a friend,” he answers simply, but when she shoots him a confused look, he adds, “she is hospitalized since several days ago and I want to visit her today.”

She nods slowly, digesting down the new information and stuffs it into a corner inside her brain.

It takes a while but it doesn’t take long for them to finally head to the cashier, where Akihito asks for his flowers to be wrapped into a bouquet. Hana watches as skillful hands immediately takes in the selected flowers and gently tied them into one, wrapping and folding paper look so easy when handled by them. It isn’t long until the bouquet is half-ready, and Hana cannot really hide her amazement at that point.

She soon looks up to see the flowers, all different but still beautifying and perfecting each other, and she wonders why, of all flowers, would her teacher chooses them. When she voices out her unsettlement, the clerk happily answers, “they mean ‘get well soon’.”

“’Get well soon’?”, she tilts her head in confusion because _flowers could mean anything?_

“Yup,” the clerk, who is a lady by the name of Suzuki—looking at her name plate on her left chest—nods, “every flower has its own meaning,” she points at a flower, and continues, “for example, this, Chrysanthemum, means ‘You are a wonderful friend’ or it could also mean ‘cheerfulness’.”

Hana widens her eyes in another wave of amusement, and she can’t really help herself as she hears her own voice asks another question, “this one?” she points to another flower just beside the appointed chrysanthemum.

“Heather by the color of lavender means ‘admiration’, and these,” she proceeds on pointing on several selected daisies, “mean ‘get well soon’.”

Hana nods ever so slowly, as if the information is too much for her to take in. But as soon as she looks up to see the bouquet once again, she notices another group of flowers that have yet to be explained, “and these?”

The clerk follows her finger and she soon responds, “oh, those?”, she touches the pom poms that act as their petals; it is visibly with great gentleness and aching softness did her finger touch them, “they are called Blooming Acacia, they usually mean ‘I love you’.”

“’I love you’?”, she echoes, her face shows how much that doesn’t match whatever that has been in her head. Hana turns to see Akihito then, a frown etching at her small face, “you love your friend? But don’t you love uncle Asami?”, she questions innocently, as if that doesn’t sound weird at all.

Akihito can’t really help the blush that immediately rushes to his whole face, down from his cheekbones, up towards his forehead, and through towards the tips of his ears; one look, and people could mistake him from being ill. Including Hana, who immediately shows a little bit of concern by grabbing onto the small of his arm.

The clerk only laughs at the blond before finishing up the bouquet with a small, simple ribbon, handing it to the blond soon after.

Akihito quickly fishes out the required cash and gives it to the clerk, before stomping out from the shop with a red face and Hana in tow.

 

* * *

 

 

White, pristine room immediately welcomes them when they pass the automatic glass doors, the smell of antiseptic and alcohol so strong in the air Hana has to keep her hands off her nose to cover them. People in white coats walk back and fro around them, some rushing, some just walking by. She recognizes several doctors from their stethoscopes that hang just around their necks, and nurses from their simpler appearance and sometimes some of them walk alongside the doctors. Either way, she can pretty much guesses where they are.

Hana silently follows her teacher’s steps as he nears the receptionist, where women in white busying themselves with computers and phone calls. She doesn’t really pay attention on what they are talking about but a moment later she is already dragged away from there, through towards the corridor to their right where an elevator and several doors are located.

The journey takes a while but Hana finds it comfortable walking with him; his hand plastered against hers and an enjoyable silence accompanies them. She feels grateful for the silence because she is comfortable that way—not talking too much because talking too much means spouting nonsense and wasting unnecessary energy. He understands that, and he gives her just that.

With a sound of a ‘ding’, the elevator opens and they soon step out, walking throughout the white corridor led by LED lights towards the desired door in which Hana finds out soon enough which one when she sees a familiar giant stands in front of one particular door, his broad shoulders almost completely covering the door.

“Suoh – san!”, Hana calls rather excitedly, immediately running off on her own towards the bodyguard who flinches a little at the sudden excited cry of his name. The little girl runs towards his side and almost immediately speaks, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m taking care of Aki – sensei’s friend,” he responds simply, ruffling the small head that are much shorter than him affectionately, “what are you doing here?”

Before she can answer for her own, Akihito races her, “she is with me,” he follows Hana towards his side, “how is she?”

“She is fine.”, he grunts out.

“Okay,” the blond teacher then runs his eyes towards Hana, “you wanna stay here with Suoh – san?”

Hana nods, and immediately clings onto his suit pants. In return, Suoh gives a curt nod, before proceeding on taking Hana in his arms and lifts her into his hold.

Akihito sees that and smiles, “I’m going in then,” he opens the door, wanting to go in, but something halts him as he asks, rather cheekily, “still not wanting to go in and meet her?”

At that, the giant averts his gaze and gives a short shake of a head, his hand nervously goes up to push up his sunglasses (even though it stays still on the bridge of his nose all the time) to righted it back in place. Hana sees it as an odd act but doesn’t say anything about it as Akihito continues on going into the room.

Upon closing the door with his hip, Akihito is immediately welcomed by a smile so beautiful and bright it mesmerized him; Kanata is sitting on the bed with her hands plastered on her lap, staring at him expectantly. The blond teacher replies the smile with his own as he strides towards the bed, pulling up a chair with him along the way.

“How are you?”, he asks, looking at her on the same eye-level as he has sit himself on the seat.

She grins, “never been better,” her eyes then run towards his hands, and she can’t hold in the desire to ask, “what is that?”

Akihito realizes where she is implying, and at that he immediately brings the bouquet to full view, “oh, this is for you,” he hands her the bouquet, a sheepish smile coming back full force below his nose as he adds, “I know just how you love flower languages and I tried to… you know…”

Kanata looks up to the flowers then, looking so fresh and healthy (just like the way she is feeling now, thankfully), and upon realizing the hidden messages the whole bouquet tells her, she immediately pulls her friend into a tight one-hand embrace and says, rather affectionately, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He proceeds on kissing her on the forehead; the lips that land on the surface of her head feels so loving and caring it kind of stirred up her emotions just a bit.

After that, they talk some, catching up with each other like they have been apart for decades. It is such an inevitability, however, for an unwanted topic for Akihito to be brought up, “how’s Asami – sama?”

The blond chokes on nothing at that, “what— why are you asking me that?”

She smirks, rather cheekily, “oh come on, don’t you think I don’t know! Suoh – san explains things a bit to me, just to let me catch up, you know,” she puts her knuckles beneath her chin then, looking more interested than ever, “so, care to tell?”

 _Great._ “How much do you know?”, Akihito starts then, an exasperated look etching across his face too obviously.

Kanata runs her eyes to the ceiling then, feigning thoughtfulness as she lets out a loud hum, not looking back at him in the eyes even as she answers, “I just know that Asami – sama paid off your debt and that you’re working under him now,” a soft gasp comes out of her mouth not too long after that (the blond swears she is faking it) and she leans forward slowly towards him, sharpening her gaze as she did so, “...and also the fact that you’re working as a nanny for his nephew.”

“That’s—you basically have known everything!”

“That’s not everything,” she counters, straightening back her posture as she runs her attention back towards the bouquet of flowers that is still on her lap, her fingers touching the petals softly as she adds, “there’s just something I don’t understand.”

He lifts an eyebrow, “Like what?”

“Like why he paid off your debt,” Kanata gives him an expectant look, hands not leaving the flowers just yet, “saving you is one thing, but paying off your debt and even giving you a decent job to pay him back? People don’t do that often, Aki.”

At that, Akihito can only numbly nod, digesting her information in like rocket science, “I don’t know... you can’t really judge what’s in his head,” still glueing his eyes onto the white floor, he adds, rather hesitantly, “you know what? While we are at it, I want to ask you something.”

At the sudden seriousness layering his voice, she focuses her attention back towards him; bouquet long-forgotten, “what is it?”

He finds it quite hard to say what he has just formed in his head, but finds it relieving when he finally gets it out of his system, “Asami asked me to live with him.”

There is a gap of five seconds before the brunette hears her own voice responding, “What? He did?”

The blond nods, “It was this morning. He litterally asked me—no, more like—told me to move in with him,” he tilts his head back to look at her, mouth wavering just a bit, “what do you think about that?”

“Well,” she averts his gaze and glues hers onto the blanket, the bumps and curves of her delicate long legs showing at the surface of the soft material that is covering her waist down, “I can’t think of another possibility other than the probability of him attracted to you, or—“ she pauses, silently waiting just for _dramatic effect_ , “if it makes you feel better, he might just want his nephew to be watched 24/7 by you.”

“Is that so?”, Akihito lets out a surprisingly heavy sigh, eyes glued back onto the floor as they follow the interesting pattern of the slim lines that are between each tiles of the white flooring.

That sigh, unfortunately, was caught quite clearly by the brunette, “aw, don’t be discouraged. It could also be both!”

He looks up rather hastily then, the color of faint pink dusting across his cheeks, “Who’s discouraged?”, he denies.

Kanata, of course, ignores his self-denial (because she knows it would be such a waste of time to pursue it—he is such a hard-headed to begin with after all) and asks, “so, are you going to live with him?”

It comes out hesitant, but it is still there for her to hear, “I don’t... know,” he folds both of his arms across his chest then, eyes running towards the ceiling above his head as he thinks aloud, “everything would be different. It’s a hard decision.”

“What’s doubting you?”, she asks, a bit worriedly.

“To me, it seems to be a rushed decision,” the blond answers, his voice coming out meek and helpless, “we just met for like, what, a week, and now I’m already contemplating on whether I should live with him or not,” Kanata watches as his eyebrows arched down, mouth forming in a thoughtful frown as he adds, “I’m just afraid whatever decision I make would result a regrettable outcome for us.”

The woman lets out a warm smile, as she brings up her fist to punch him on the shoulder, “you’re thinking too much, honestly,” Akihito brings his eyes back to her then, and catches sight of that heartwarming smile that stretched across her lips as she gazes upon him, “just do it for his nephew. You know the kid could sometimes be lonely in late hours without her favorite nanny.” Finishing up her speech, she flutters one of her eyes closed in a wink.

The blond chuckles, “is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“You know it is.” She laughs.

 

* * *

 

 

“You know, sensei,” the little girl tugs a bit harder on his hand, and it successfully earns his attention enough it gets him to turn his face towards her, “I think Uncle Suoh likes Auntie Kana.”

Akihito grins at that, chuckling a bit as he responds, “you think so too? I thought I’m the only one.”

Hana brings her vision back on the road before her, watching as her little feet slowly yet carefully venture along the pavement all the while trying to catch on with her teacher’s big steps, “it’s kind of obvious. Uncle Suoh talked about her earlier looking like me when I talk about books.”

“Is that so?” The blond turns to see her face even clearer, smiling a mischief smile as if planning some ill intended plans that Hana isn’t sure before but likes it instead when he voiced it out, “let’s just get them together then.”

A sense of relief washes over him like tidal waves as the girl replies his plan with a determined, vigorous nod. If Uncle Suoh talks about Auntie Kana with the same excitement as her talking about her fairy tale books, he, without a doubt, must like her a lot. And what would Hana ever wanted the most than seeing his ever-stoic faced uncle to be happy it lifts a rare smile on his usually long face?

At that, Hana tightens her hold on his hand and begins chattering nonstop about her talk with her uncle earlier (sounds like she has been asking about Auntie Kana a lot when she was outside with Uncle Suoh earlier), and in return, Akihito also shares his part of talking with Kanata, telling her just as excitedly about how Kanata was in fact talking about Suoh as well, devising an ultimate plan about how to just get them well and together happily ever after (just like what Hana likes to call it).

The only thing that could rip Hana off their heated discussion is an ice cream booth, and Akihito couldn’t help but chuckle as she stops talking, leaving her words fading to the thin air as she catches sight of the ice cream truck, her brown eyes lit up like the brightest Christmas tree in town. “Can I?” She asks so sweetly, and Akihito is fighting a losing battle against those wide, rounded and twinkling brown eyes. He gives her some money then, and watches as she takes off towards the truck, going against the many people that have also set their eyes upon the sweet treat as well.

Akihito slowly walks upon there as well, following her tiny steps as to not lose sight of her, but he still keeps his distance because he knows she doesn’t like being watched like a little child that she actually still is (something along the line of “I can do this myself” and those sentences that have the word ‘independently’ in them that he couldn’t really recall at the moment). But still, he could feel the sense of pride swells deep inside him as he watches her, ever so independently does things alone like the little adult that is also her.

Hana likes chocolate ice cream the best out of all the flavors available and she chooses just that (she doesn’t like to experiment often. Maybe he could buy her a bubblegum to try next time). The ice cream man smiles down at her before taking her order into task, scooping up three scoops of chocolate ice cream for her just because she is adorable (Akihito has always known that man has a special spot in his heart for little kids). Hana gives him the adequate money then, before subsequently taking her chocolate ice cream from the man and turns towards her own away, surprisingly bumping onto another figure behind her that is so much bigger and taller compared to her.

Seeing that, Akihito immediately sets off towards her in a panic pace, witnessing as she falls off on her bottom along with her newly-bought ice cream, crashing and melting against the dirty ground. The man, whose face still unknown to him (he has his back on him after all) kneels in front of her and helps her up, his Italian three-piece suit contrasting his surrounding that’s filled with children and mothers and ice creams; in other word, that man stands out in the crowd.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Akihito hears him say as he nears his student, still holding the man’s hands after he pulled her up onto her feet, “I didn’t see you there. Wait here, I will buy you a new one.”

Hana lets go of his hands as he turns towards the ice cream man, gesturing a hand up for another order which the clerk happily makes. It doesn’t take long for another set of hands catch her from her back, and Hana immediately turns around in surprise to face her familiar blond teacher, “Hana – chan, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answers simply, before looking back to the man who is still busying himself on buying her a new ice cream, “he says he will buy me a new one though.” She points out.

As if sensing he is mentioned, the appointed man turns to face them, and it is seconds later when finally, Akihito gets to see the offender, who is surprisingly an old man in (probably) his late 60’s. Upon facing the blond, the older man lets out a smile, but it only makes him unsettled somehow in the pit of his stomach, “you are her brother?”

“I’m her teacher,” Akihito corrects him, before receiving a new ice cream the older man just bought her, “thank you, you don’t really have to.”

The older man then ushers them towards the outside of the crowd for better talking, “oh, I have to. After all, this little lady seems to really want it,” at that, he puts a hand on top of her head and gives her a soft ruffle, his wrinkled hand making her smiles a little in return.

Hana looks up at him, “thank you mister.”

“Everything for the adorable young lady,” he looks down to meet her eyes, gazing upon her intently it sets something uncomfortable to churn inside the blonde’s stomach, “she really is adorable.”

It is kind of a reflex, or more like an instinct, however, when Akihito pulled the little girl to stand behind him, standing in between Hana and the overly-kind and compassionate, but still suspicious, old man, “she really is, and thank you once again,” Hana only glances up at her teacher in question, but she doesn’t have the time to voice it out as he says, “I’m sorry, but I think we are going on our way.”

“Of course, I also have other business to attend,” he lets out another smile towards the girl, before waving his hand, “bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye, mister.” Hana replies, before having her body dragged away from her talking companion, who only watches as they drift away and disappear from the crowd.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami is late, again, he concludes as for the umpteenth time of the night his eyes run to watch the digital clock, its digitally lit numbers telling him the time that strikes 12. Akihito then looks down to see the small girl in his lap, who has been sound asleep since an hour ago (they want to wait for Asami together, but her eyes gave up on her and she finally left him alone to wait), before patting her back softly with his palm, her body warm with natural, healthy body heat as she breathes in and out softly, her long eyelashes kiss her chubby cheeks so heavily they don’t look like they want to flutter open any soon.

A smile unconsciously spreads across his mouth as he gazes upon her, and a moment later he knows he is already carrying her back to her room, his hold careful and steady as to not wake her from her precious slumber.

He opens the door ever-so-slowly, cringing internally at the seemingly really loud sound of creak it produced, before striding with sure steps towards the princess bed, placing her and tucking her into the soft blankets in the middle of the large bed. He watches as she clutches at his hand for a bit, her eyebrow wrinkling down in an ugly way that tells him something bad is happening in her head, and he immediately advances on calming her down—whispering something like “it’s okay” and “I’m here with you” that thankfully works full-time on untying her brow back into places, a small smile even forming on her thin lips as she goes back to her happy dreamland.

Akihito watches her one last time through his shoulders, before finally closing the door behind him, letting the girl has her good night sleep.

Going back to the living room, he fishes out his phone and dials the number that belongs to a certain person that should have been home long ago but not. He presses the device to his right ear and waits as the call rings, waiting, and waiting for the other line to pick up impatiently, his foot even starts on picking up its own rhythm against the comfortable floor.

It takes him by surprise, however, when the voice that takes his call is obviously not the usual deep, baritone voice, “hello?”, _and not the usual 'Asami speaking’ either_ , a small voice nudges him annoyingly in his mind.

“Hello,” Akihito replies, a bit unsure, “I’d like to talk to Asami, please.”

“You want to talk to _Ryu_?”, the voice counters him back, and he is finally out of his stupor enough to finally recognize the high-pitched voice that has been talking with him through the phone, obviously not a man’s voice.

 _Who are you?_ He wants to say, but holds himself dearly—for what reason, he doesn’t really know. Maybe it’s because of the way she talks, or maybe the way she takes up the calls from Asami’s personal phone, or maybe it’s because of the way she calls Asami _Ryu_ ; whatever it is, Akihito doesn’t feel comfortable talking with this woman, “no—umm… just—tell him, I called.”  

“Okay!” she responds, her voice coming out a bit slurred and too cheerful at this late hour, “I’ll be sure to tell him that. Good night.” And with that, the woman hung up the call, leaving Akihito alone in the room with uncomfortable silence and his own complicated thoughts.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE! Oh I'm so happy to finally be able to finish this chapter!! /cries of joy/  
> It's been like, what, a year? I'm so sorry for the absence! (it's basically me just taking irresponsible break without telling you guys tho so... just blame me)  
> And things happened! Like, my old laptop gave up on me and all of my files were gone in a blink of an eye (I cried and had a mental breakdown at that okay, at least, internally), aaaaand I probably had the worst writer's block in this chapter (probably because I haven't been writing of late and my writings just get sooo rusty:/)  
> AAANYWAYYY, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter (and please just reread if you have time, in case you forget the story-line *AS I SAID JUST BLAME MEEE*). I will try to get my writing mood back up soon. I hope:9
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series.
> 
> follow me on instagram! @mumbled_talks


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd

_Of course_ , Akihito tells himself for the umpteenth time that night, eyes closed shut in deep thought, lips stayed firm in a grim line. It is well past one and Asami still has not shown any kind of sign of coming back. _Of course he has his own share of women_ , Akihito says to himself, the sound of it sounding too depressing for his own liking, _of course women would be coming to him easily. Of course he has relationships with women. Of course!_

_"_ I'm stupid," Akihito speaks aloud, finally, after feeling too pent-up having too much words in his mind, "stupid, emotion-ridden, poor Takaba Akihito." he finishes with a groan, hands coming up to rub his face hard as if it were a reality he wanted to face.

Everything just suddenly falls in place. The woman on the phone, the slurred way she talked, the late, late hour Asami planned on coming home—of course it is an affair. A secret, personal affair that Asami hides. A secret, personal affair that could hopefully turn into a proper relationship. A proper, healthy relationship for Asami—for Hana, too.

Of course the little girl needs a woman, a girl that understands a girl. There are also some things that Akihito could not fulfill, some things he just doesn't understand and not capable of giving. He has limits, and _I guess Asami knows this,_ Akihito adds in his head, _he realizes his responsibility as the girl's caretaker. He knows what's best for her._

_And I'm not,_ he concludes, heart clenching in emotions he could not quite catch, _I'm not the best option—she has better ones._

It immediately feels like having the whole world looking down at him—the sound of the breeze chilling him, the unmoving shadows on the ceiling above his head mocking him—as the realization finally sinks in. He is not the only one, there are so many better people out there ready to be in his shoes. All this time, he was always swept by the fact that Hana likes him, or the delusion he has that Asami might like him too, that he forgets that he is always that _replaceable_.

It feels suffocating, whatever the fuck it is, and Akihito suddenly does not feel comfortable anymore. This is not his home, he does not belong here, there is no way he could live here, why did it ever cross his mind to consider moving in?

As the clock strikes a half past one, Akihito moves his legs into action; through the dimmed room and the overshadowed space, he searches his way through to find his stuffs—his bag, phone, everything that _truly belongs to him_ —before finally collecting them in one bundle and shoving them hastily through to the deepest corner in his sling bag. He does not know why but there is this sudden urge that bubbles up through his chest to flee; it is as if he is not welcomed, and nothing feels righter than getting out of there as soon as possible at the moment.

Geared to do so, the blond immediately speeds up his steps towards the genkan, subsequently shoving his feet into his worn-out sneakers, before striding towards the exit, heart beating way louder than he personally prefers. As his hand touches the metal doorknob, Akihito halts every kind of action that he is about to do and spares one last look behind—a glance towards the place that used to make him feel like coming home, the place that used to tell him that there is always where he belongs, that there is always a place for him there, that he is always meant to be here all along. His heart clenches a little at the reminder that Hana is at one corner of the space, obliviously sleeping through a hopefully sweet dream, unaware of what dilemma he is currently going through. It hurts to leave her like this; it pains him deeply that there is always someone better than him to take care of her.

Akihito looks back towards his unmoving hand, firmly staying still on the doorknob, before letting out a heavy sigh. _Has it always been this hard?_ the blond questions more to himself than anyone in particular, _to leave this place, has it always been this hard?_

Before he could get an answer (he honestly does not expect it—he does not know after all), the door suddenly opens up with a distinct chime, followed loyally after the sound of a card being swiped from outside. He knows who is coming, because _he_ is the only one other than himself that has the access into the penthouse, and it is against his will when panic suddenly washes over him hard like tidal wave, sending him into a moment of paralyzation and mind-numbing condition.

It happens in a matter of seconds, and yet Akihito feels like remembering every millisecond of it.

Asami opens the door wide for him to come in, and his golden eyes immediately focuses solely on the blond, who is still standing there and staring back up at him as if he has expected his arrival. Something clenches at his left chest when he sees Asami softening his expression the moment he lands his vision on him, and Akihito thinks painfully to himself that it does not matter how long, or how often he sees him—Asami becomes more and more perfect; something he catches himself thinking awhile back.

I _am attracted to him_ , Akihito concludes, finally, after catching himself trying to memorize every single feature and aspects that made a man an Asami Ryuichi, _I am definitely, most definitely, attracted to him._

"Takaba?", Asami calls, and it takes everything in him to not flinch at the sound of his voice calling his name, "why are you standing in front of the door? Is something wrong?"

He knows he has to answer, anything, to indicate that he is normal and still listening and not currently haunted by his own toxic thoughts. He knows this, but at the end of another minute he just finds himself gluing his mouth shut, unmoving, unable to form any coherent answer for the poor, confused newcomer. He does not know what his face looks like, but the worry that is drawn all over the older man's face tells him more than enough that it is not in a good color.

"Hey," Asami starts, letting out a sigh as he continues, "what's wrong? Are you okay?"

_Tell him you're fine_ , Akihito tells himself, becoming more and more scared at the paralyzation his brain is having, _tell him you're okay and nothing's wrong. It is just that easy!_

The silence he received as an answer is honestly enough to drive him half-mad, Asami realizes. Seeing that the boy would not move at any moment soon, he takes the initiative to move forward, putting his briefcase on the floor beneath him along the short way. Akihito looks terrified with both his eyes widened and his smooth skin paled—it is as if he'd seen a ghost.

Asami moves closer, and it is purely on instinct when he stretches one of his hands forward, aiming for that certain spot on his cheek, the area that is just under his terrified eyes. He does it so, so gently, as if he is about to pet a scared bunny with harsh breathing—calming eyes, steady movements.

So, it really does take him by surprise, to be honest, when a hand suddenly slaps his away—and when he truly focuses his vision on what is happening, he later finds out that Akihito just slapped his hand away, as if that thing offends him terribly in the pit of his stomach. Asami lets his hand on the air for a second, unsure of what to do, before putting it back on its rightful place—at his side, skin pulsing the same rhythm as his heart beating underneath his chest with pain that he is not sure was inflicted physically. Akihito just rejects him, why does it affect him so?

Realizing what he just did, Akihito snaps out of his petrification and finally speaks, voice coming out as squeaks as if he'd not been talking for years, "oh my God, I'm sorry I didn't mean to do it! I—I don't know what I'm doing! I'm sorry, I—"

"It's okay," Asami encourages, though the surprise and shock are clear at the tone of his voice, "can you just tell me what happened? Why you are acting like this?"

"I was just—", Akihito stops, trying to juice out any relevant answer to his question, and comes up with none, "I was just about to go home," he lets out honesty, brain too frozen and tired to find a good lie, "and I did that because you just caught me off-guard, I'm sorry."

"You're going home?" the older man asks, as if what he said is not enough and does not make any sense, "at this late hour? Why don't you stay the night?"

The offer is just too tempting, but Akihito decides he could not sleep well in these walls. With a heavy heart, he responds, his voice breaks evenly with every word spoken, "I should go home," he bites his lip as he finds another excuse, "I got work to do."

"It could be done later," the answer comes out firm, and it is against his will when he finds he got no room to decline, "just stay the night. It's getting very late, and you have to be here first thing in the morning to take care of Hana. Why bother going home?"

_But I have to_ , Akihito voices inside his brain, hoping it could one way or another comes out in a plea that could at least move the man somehow, "please," the blond speaks unconsciously, face trying hard not to show a distressed frown and gives away his frustration to view, "I want to go home." _I don't belong here,_ he adds silently—not even sure if he'd want Asami to hear or not.

Asami stares at him, and when he saw his face looking like he is about to cry, he finally backs down. Letting out a heavy sigh, the older man picks up his fallen briefcase and walks even further into the penthouse, as he speaks, "okay, but let me drive you home."

It is not the best option, Akihito thinks, but it is still better than sleeping inside the space that suffocates him—this is not his home.

 

* * *

 

 

The sound of the engine revving throughout the highway accompanies them in their silence, the streetlights passing through like the longest tail of a shooting star. Akihito watches as the many lights reflected from the tall buildings in the city blinks merrily, like the million Christmas lights that lit up the whole city, but it is with a sigh does he realize that they could not lit up his mood, nor the atmosphere inside the vehicle he is currently riding in.

Asami focuses his vision on the road ahead, golden eyes glowing in the dark with unknown thoughts, mouth staying in a straight line, grip tightening around the steering wheel. It feels like ages since the journey started, and not a single word had been uttered since.

The blond tries to look at the older man beside him through his peripheral vision, but every time his hazel eyes land on him—his powerful stance, his sharp gaze—his heart immediately aches with unknown pain. So, he decides to just stick his attention onto the road, forehead gluing onto the cold car window.

It is against his will when the car slows down and comes to a stop, realizing a bit later that the traffic light turns red a moment before they pass. Akihito clenches his bag on his lap, heart thudding a bit faster at the awkwardness that is weighing down on them. _I must say something_ , the blond thinks, teeth biting onto lips in nervousness, _anything—_

_"_ I heard you called," Asami starts, much to his surprise.

The blond turns his eyes towards him but finds himself unable to respond. It does not take long however, for the old man to look back onto him, golden eyes fixed onto hazel ones, "you called me earlier, before I got back. Did something happen?"

"Ah…", Akihito realized, suddenly feeling a bit fidgety in his own seat, "I just wondered when you would be coming home," _and who that woman might be,_ "since it has gotten late," _and you were with her the entire time, even giving her access to your phone,_ "and I also wanted to go back." he responds, mind picking out and eliminating _unnecessary_ words to be spoken out.

Asami lets out an acknowledging hum as a response, and when the light turns green after a minute, he sticks his eyes back onto the road and geared the engine back to life. He takes a left turn after, "I'm sorry then, the meeting took longer than I had expected."

"A meeting, huh?" Akihito mumbles out, totally unsure whether Asami heard or not. But after a moment has passed and nothing replies him back, the blond guesses it was the latter, "you should come back home earlier, you know, for Hana."

"I know I should, and it often unsettles me," Asami takes another swift turn, eyes never leaving the road ahead, "but since we have you, I honestly have nothing to worry about."

The words cut deep into his being, and Akihito suddenly finds himself unable to look at the man, so he looks away. He said it so simply, so easily, like it meant nothing to him—like you said that to someone every day. The blond bites the inside of his cheek as he is suddenly overwhelmed by this urge to cry, though he is rather thankful he does not subsequently cry like he thought he would. It's suffocating—this feeling.

He does not know how long it takes, but they are suddenly slowing down in front of a familiar building—his apartment building. The blond sees it through the window as it looms near, but his heart clenches with emptiness every time he thinks about stepping through the door to his supposedly home.

"We are here," Asami announces, as if it is not obvious enough that they have indeed arrived, "I will see you in the morning then, Takaba."

"Yeah, see you." he responds, unbuckling himself off the seat slowly, before picking his bag up and opening the door. He walks around the front of the car to reach the driver's side, and when he did, he finally remembers something, "Asami?"

"Hm?", the older man responds almost immediately, golden eyes glimmering in the dark—it is honestly hard to not focus and be trapped in them.

Akihito lets out a shaky breath he hasn't realized he has held, before continuing, heart beating a bit hastily underneath his ribcage, "about your offer of moving into the penthouse," he starts, eyes roving around to inspect the other's expression, trying to at least figure out what's going on inside his head, "I will have to refuse."

"Why?" that is not a question, more like a demand; an order.

Akihito feels his legs becoming jellies underneath that powerful gaze and intimidating tone, but it is already too late for him to take back his words and he already has made up his mind—he is not the type to back down easily from his decision, "I simply do not see the need to," _and I do not belong there_ , he does not add.

Silence replies him, and Akihito does not realize it is exactly what he needed until he lets out a relieved sigh—burden lightening up a bit upon his shoulder. The blond then curls up an easy smile on his lips, before bowing a polite bow, hands clenching onto the sling of his bag, "thank you for the offer and good night." Before waiting for a response, Akihito pulls his posture back to a standing position before turning around on his heels and advances even further towards the building that is his apartment, speed walk turning into a run as he grows nearer to his home.

Closing the car window, Asami sits staring at the steering wheel, mouth stayed shut in silent thoughts.

 

* * *

 

 

It is the harsh ray of sunlight and not a familiar pair of gentle hands that wakes her up, she realizes, as she slowly sits up amongst the sea of comfortable sheets around her and seeing no familiar figure busying himself in the corner like any other mornings. She brings her small fists to rub the haze away from her sleepy eyes, (maybe the sleepiness is still clogging at her mind and makes her unable to see her teacher), but when everything clears up and she still sees no one, she is overwhelmed by confusion. Looking at the bright sunlight that shines through the small gap of her curtain, Hana decides it is time to wake up, so she carefully grabs her purple teddy bear from her side and slides down her bed, feet meeting the soft brown carpeted floor as she subsequently makes her way towards the door.

It needs quite the effort, she has always been a small kid her age, sadly, but after a minute of trying, she finally manages on reaching and turning the doorknob. With all her strength, she pushes the door open and is immediately welcomed by a sight that she used to seeing in the past—it has become rather unfamiliar for her though, and seeing it again brings this sinking feeling in her stomach.

There sat with his legs crossed at the dinner table is her uncle, uncle Asami, with a newspaper held in both hands and a cup of drink (she is guessing that it is a very bitter water called coffee) stood motionless on the table, seemingly untouched.

Oddly enough, there is no _Aki - sensei_ around.

Brushing aside her mild confusion, Hana walks the small distance towards one of the dining table just across her uncle, suddenly feeling hyper aware by the sound of footsteps she is making. Gently, she heaves herself onto the chair and sits, eyes immediately focusing on a breakfast that has been set upon her.

She places her purple teddy bear at the seat next to her, pulling the chair to stand closer to her all the while trying to make as little sound as possible. But before she can actually feel the safety of the closeness she has with her teddy bear, she is surprised out of her seat when a baritone voice suddenly speaks, "You woke up rather late today," her uncle states from across her, newspaper still shielding his face from her vision.

Hana does not immediately reply, and instead, takes her time to look at the breakfast that has been prepared for her, a plain toast, "Aki - sensei was not the one who woke me up," she takes a part of the toast and proceeds to rip it slowly, taking her time, "where is he?"

"I don't know, probably late," he puts down the newspaper and places it on his lap before taking a cup of drink he prepared for himself, sipping the drink bit by bit and making Hana cringes at the reminder of how bitter it must be, "you shouldn't depend on him to wake you up", her uncle continues, unexpectedly, "you are soon old enough to wake up on your own, right?"

"Right." Hana responds, suddenly feeling upset at the direction of where this conversation is going. She rips another part of her plain toast before placing her head on the cold surface of the dining table, chewing the toast distastefully in her mouth as she stares at the plain white wall that stands in front of her vision.

Asami is honestly displeased with her behavior, "Hana, sit straight and eat your breakfast right."

"I'm eating it right," Hana counters, can't really conceal the grumpiness she feels at the pit of her stomach any longer— _look, I'm chewing_ , she badly wants to add, but holds herself dear by the reminder of how scary her uncle could be if he were to be angry.

"Hana."

_Ugh_ , Hana hates that tone. She hates him for using that. She hates him for using that tone because he knows she doesn't have the chance against him once he is using that tone. _Ugh_ , and now she has to look up…

And there they are, those piercing golden eyes that stare back at her. She flinches a little upon their eye-contact and shudders at how they intimidate her. No matter how many times her uncle used that gaze against her, she knows for a fact that she could never win—it always scares her.

Giving in, she slowly straightens up her back and rips another small piece of her toast, before pushing herself away from the dining table and jumps off the chair. Asami sees her antics in mild confusion, "where are you going?"

"Pee-pee!" She bites back, before running off towards the door that leads her to the bathroom. As the door closes with a loud 'thump', Asami lets out a rather heavy sigh before massaging that small spot on the bridge of his nose between his eyes with the pad of his forefinger and thumb— _it's still morning_.

It is not long, however, when he suddenly hears a ruckus coming from the front door, and before he could completely stand and walk to inspect the source, he is immediately greeted by the sight of a mop of blond hair—concealing a familiar face beneath all the strands—striking at all the directions available and totally looking like a mess. Asami encloses the distance between him and the newcomer within a moment, and at that moment he arrives in front of him, the newcomer lifts up his gaze, effectively engaging them in a sudden eye contact.

Asami wants to say something, at least to call his name and gains his attention, but whatever he has planned ahead to say dies in his tongue as his eyes meet a pair of hazel ones; they are looking glazed and a bit confused—surprised, as if they were not ready about something; as if they were not ready to meet his. It takes a millisecond for those eyes to change their expression, they are very transparent in fact, and the old man finds it unnerving when he recognizes pain in those orbs—the kind of old pain that awakes uninvitedly, triggered by unwanted things, and suddenly Asami wants to know of it. _What kind of things those eyes saw to express such pain?_

(Asami has always known himself to be able to read a bit more about the people around him.)

"Um," Asami hears him say, and he is immediately broken away from his musings, "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't hear my alarm go off and the train was delayed and—"

It is purely on instinct, Asami realizes, as he closes the short distance between them, automatically shutting the younger man off of his rattling, "It's okay. You went home pretty late, I have expected you coming late."

He has half-expected to be replied by a silence, and when it actually did, Asami does not complain. Instead, he takes a moment to lay his sight on the blond, who is visibly uncomfortable and squirming a bit underneath his gaze, as if there were something he is hiding, something he knows that Asami doesn't, or something he is uncertain of, nagging him on the head. He watches those hazel eyes casted downwards like a child would after being scolded, which is funny because _why would he do so? What did he do wrong?_

Asami sees him abusing his own fingers and that is the moment when he feels to step in, gently reaching his hand out to land on the younger man's wrist, his touch soft, as if petting a small, uncertain frightened animal. He watches as he jumps a bit on the spot, visibly flinching at the sudden contact, but seemingly not intending on backing away.

A breath passes and he finds himself taking a step closer, inching a bit closer and invading his personal space. Akihito takes that very moment to look up, and once again, they are met in an intense eye contact, where all he could see is the shades of hazel that graces his eyes and the world reflected on his vision.

"Stop abusing your own fingers like that," Asami starts, gently pulling one hand out of the other, "wouldn't want you showing ugly hands to Hana."

Akihito takes a rather sharp breath when the hold the other man has on his hand tightens, and his pulse quickens when he sees those golden eyes coming even closer, its intensity burning a hole through his chest. And when Asami suddenly puts a palm to caress his cheek slowly, he feels it more than he sees it, and that ache from last night uninvitingly comes again in a new kind of wave, drowning and overwhelming him with unwanted thoughts that still haunts him even in his sleep (he is honestly not sure if laying on the matress and staring hard at the ceiling above his head until dawn could count as a sleep or not.)

_Why are you doing this?_ Akihito asks internally as he sees the man closing the gap between them, leaving a breath the only thing separating them apart, _if you already had someone, why are you still doing this to me?_

He closes his eyes, and his heart feels like breaking out of his ribcage when he felt the first touch of the other man's lip on his own.

_If I don't mean anything to you, why are you still kissing me like this?_

And then he is pushing Asami away, all strength and adrenaline gathered in one time once that thought seeped through his mind. His eyes catch the older man's expression; the shock is obvious, and there is this something that tugs at his heart but he couldn't really fathom what.

It is like being struck by lightning, or suddenly being sobered up after a heavily drunken night, did the realization of what he just did minutes ago finally hits him right in the head. Without wasting any more time, Akihito immediately bends his body in a perfect ninety-degree posture, and before he could even register if Asami sees him or not, he speaks, "I-I'm sorry! I didn't know what I'm doing. I'm truly sorry!"

He doesn't have the courage to lift up his head, he really doesn't (he is guessing maybe all of his bravity had vanished to thin air when he rejected the man earlier), so when he heard Asami went away from him with his footsteps fading underneath his feet, he is rather taken by surprise when his body got jostled out of the way by another body walking by pass him.

Akihito immediately straightens up his back to look back at Asami, who is now right in front of the exit, hands gripping the door knob, and before even waiting for the blond to speak, the older man races him, "It's okay. I'm going to work. Take care of Hana", and with that, the man walks through the door, leaving the penthouse.

As soon as the door closes shut behind him, Akihito feels his legs could hold his weight no longer, and so he gives up on holding up his body altogether and collapses to the floor. He lets his back pushes against the cold mahogany door as he tilts his head upwards and lets out a sigh—the kind of sigh that he wishes as one that is out of relief—but when he feels the tightening feeling still taking over his heart, he knows for a fact it is the otherwise.

_What am I doing?_

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONG TIME NO UPDATE!
> 
> A little life update, Im still busying myself finishing my last year in high school and I would be lying if I say that this doesn't drain me out because it DOES! IT LEGIT DOES!  
> (But, yeah, I still manage to snag in some writing in the meantime so...)
> 
> Besides that, I really hope you guys like the update, even though I admit that was a rather long absent I had there //sweats
> 
> I do not own the Finder Series.


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